Being good is never an easy task. Despite how much each of us want to be good and righteous and “holy” it seems like something we can never really attain. Even when the best of the best do what they think is right is it really? I mean do we ever do anything with a pure heart or do we do what we do so that we might gain the accolades of others, the applause of the masses or the silent approval of our inner heart and heavenly Father? And if you are doing something to get something, is there ever a truly altruistic act in man?
Aw, these are questions and thoughts I ponder daily with little or no real resolution. And honestly, on this side of heaven, I don’t think that we are capable of truly altruistic acts. Now that is not to say that we are not capable of good. I totally believe that we, as created humans made in the image of our Creator, are totally capable of doing good and even being good, but in our best we are still flawed. Our hearts are deceitfully wicked abouve all things.
I totally relate to the apostle paul in Romans 7:7-21 where he says “15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
Why is it that evil reigns in my heart when God to lives there too? Does He not cast out these evil things? Why is there such a pull to the evil? Is it that it is just so good? Is it that it is so tangible? Is it that it is so immediate? I don’t know, but maybe it is all these things. Maybe it is that for a few seconds, but do we have no memory of how miserable we are after it is said and done? Do we not remember how much it hurts us and more importantly, what is at stake each time we choose to disobey? We claim to be the most evolved creatures on the earth, but I would argue that we are very inept at our ability to see things for that they are. We risk life and limb in order to get our “fix”. It may not be that serious for everyone, but the fact is that we all seem to harbor some secret sin that we nestle near our heart and hold on to with the grip of a gymnast on a performance ring.
So what is the motivation for good? Well obviously, if you are a believer, there is a deep sense in which you know you are suppose to be good and “holy.” And though that deep feeling is motivational, it is rarely motivational enough to keep us from doing wrong for a long period of time. It works fine for a day or week or even a few months, but ultimately we’ll fail. There has to be something deeper, something more motivational. I think that in order for us to really follow God we have to do a few things:
1) We need to learn to realize that we are inherently evil. We are born in sin and in sin did our mother conceive us (Ps 51:5). As much as I want to think that I am good, I am not. God knows this and that is why we He sent us a Savior.
2) We have to submit ourselves to the Lord. That’s a great “churchy” statement, but one that really is true. We don’t like submission. We don’t like giving up control. We don’t like pain.
3) We have to discipline ourselves in every aspect of our lives, especially emotionally. We need to take a deeper look at our heart and life and ask why we are medicating our pain with this sin. Why can’t we simply bring these things to Christ? Why can’t we look honestly at ourselves and realize that we have to face the discomfort in order to allow the Healer to truly bring healing in our heart.
I want to stop the sin, stop the pain, stop the self loathing, stop the distance that all of these things cause me with my Father and with the ones that I love. I want freedom. Christ promises that it was for freedom that Christ set us free (Gal 5:1). I want it. I am sick of my sin. I am sick of my lack of discipline. I am sick of medicating my pain with food, with lack of control, with self-hatred. And unfortunately, I don’t seem to be too motivated till I hit the wall. I look in the mirror and I see the shape of my boy or the inability to even fit into the “fat clothes.” I hear people talk of God’s movement in their lives and I know of what they speak, but I haven’t experienced it personally in quite some time. I see the Word and long to hear from my Father, but am often too busy or too lazy or too something to just sit and spend time with Him. I can’t go on like that anymore. The world is too willing to accommodate my demise and I cannot allow it to happen.
I want a holistic approach to life that allows me to be me and allows God to be real and present in my life. That means that I have to acknowledge my sin, surrender my will and discipline my life not out of obligation, but out of my genuine love for God and my sincere love for myself. Its easier to hate me and simply love God but that is not his will for me at all. He wants me to love me just as much as I would love others. Its not selfish, despite how much we may have been thought that it was – it’s the way we were created to be.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
There is Hope in Pain
Hurt. There seems to be no end to the amount of pain and hurt that is in the world. Sunamis, murder, war, death, abuse, pain, pain, pain. It is enough to even make the most faithful doubt.
But in the midst of it all there are glimmers of hope. This is not what God intended with his creation. And just when we are about to lose hope, you see something incredible; something that renews your mind and spirit and lets you know that despite the pain, there is good in the world.
I know a bunch of women who decided that they needed to do something to help those that were less fortunate, generational poor, single women in their community. They have decided to give of themselves and enlist others in the process to give - time, money, know-how, skills, you name it. And why? Because they love people and believe that change is possible. People like that give me hope and make me stop and think about how selfish I often am.
I know that as long as we live in this world there will always be pain and hurt. As I understand it, it is an inevitable part of our fallen world. But there is an undercurrent that exists as well; a tide of do-gooders who genuinely believe that serving is the highest order of truly loving people. They pour themselves into others and rarely think of themselves. I want to be that kind of person.
I really believe that in the midst of all the pain of our world there is silent army that is rising up, a quite flood of people who have decided to live their life for the service of others and not themselves. I hope you'll join the rising tide and make an eternal difference in our world.
But in the midst of it all there are glimmers of hope. This is not what God intended with his creation. And just when we are about to lose hope, you see something incredible; something that renews your mind and spirit and lets you know that despite the pain, there is good in the world.
I know a bunch of women who decided that they needed to do something to help those that were less fortunate, generational poor, single women in their community. They have decided to give of themselves and enlist others in the process to give - time, money, know-how, skills, you name it. And why? Because they love people and believe that change is possible. People like that give me hope and make me stop and think about how selfish I often am.
I know that as long as we live in this world there will always be pain and hurt. As I understand it, it is an inevitable part of our fallen world. But there is an undercurrent that exists as well; a tide of do-gooders who genuinely believe that serving is the highest order of truly loving people. They pour themselves into others and rarely think of themselves. I want to be that kind of person.
I really believe that in the midst of all the pain of our world there is silent army that is rising up, a quite flood of people who have decided to live their life for the service of others and not themselves. I hope you'll join the rising tide and make an eternal difference in our world.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
The Blessings of Pain
We live in a rather gratuitous world. No matter what takes place in our lives we seem to have some way to alleviate the pain and discomfort those things might bring to us. But does that really help us in being better people? I think not.
Though no one, myself included, enjoys pain and difficulties in life, I really do believe it is through pain and suffering that most of humanity really grasp the depths of what it is to truly be human in the highest form. If you read the biographies of world changers you will find they are generally people who have suffered much and, in that suffering, come to a deeper, more profound understanding of life, mercy, hope, happiness and grace. It is through the absence of things that we discover the real primacy of life - those things which really matter.
I am convinced that it is through suffering that we truly get to know the heart of God for it is in those moments of suffering that we are most likely to reach out to Him, depend on Him and seek Him with utter abandon.
I am also convinced that through the crucible of these difficulties that God refines and hones our lives to be more like Him. It is like the lump of coal buried deep in the bowels of the earth. It is ugly, not terribly useful and lacking the beauty and luster to allow it adorn the hand or neck of someone. However, if that same piece of coal is put under extreme pressure, under the "trials of life" if you will, that it becomes a beautiful diamond. In that process I am sure that the coal thinks that it is going to die. Thousands upon thousands of pounds of pressure seem almost unbearable, but it is not. God knows what He is doing and at just the right moment the coal, once black and non-reflective, is transformed into something that it never imagined it could be -- a diamond -- and with the ability to reflect and refract light!
I can't help but think that this is how God has intended our lives as well. We will experience difficulties if we live in this sinful world, there is no doubt about it. However, if we are faithful, if we allow the Father to transform our lives through the difficulties and hardships, we will emerge something more precious than we could have imagined and something that can reflect all the radiance of the One who created us.
... So don't fight the pain and hardships of this world as they are indeed par for the course. Instead, embrace them as a refining process that allows you to reflect the One who has created you and promises to never leave you or forsake you. Don't waste the pain. He certainly didn't and because He didn't we now have life and have it more abundantly.
Though no one, myself included, enjoys pain and difficulties in life, I really do believe it is through pain and suffering that most of humanity really grasp the depths of what it is to truly be human in the highest form. If you read the biographies of world changers you will find they are generally people who have suffered much and, in that suffering, come to a deeper, more profound understanding of life, mercy, hope, happiness and grace. It is through the absence of things that we discover the real primacy of life - those things which really matter.
I am convinced that it is through suffering that we truly get to know the heart of God for it is in those moments of suffering that we are most likely to reach out to Him, depend on Him and seek Him with utter abandon.
I am also convinced that through the crucible of these difficulties that God refines and hones our lives to be more like Him. It is like the lump of coal buried deep in the bowels of the earth. It is ugly, not terribly useful and lacking the beauty and luster to allow it adorn the hand or neck of someone. However, if that same piece of coal is put under extreme pressure, under the "trials of life" if you will, that it becomes a beautiful diamond. In that process I am sure that the coal thinks that it is going to die. Thousands upon thousands of pounds of pressure seem almost unbearable, but it is not. God knows what He is doing and at just the right moment the coal, once black and non-reflective, is transformed into something that it never imagined it could be -- a diamond -- and with the ability to reflect and refract light!
I can't help but think that this is how God has intended our lives as well. We will experience difficulties if we live in this sinful world, there is no doubt about it. However, if we are faithful, if we allow the Father to transform our lives through the difficulties and hardships, we will emerge something more precious than we could have imagined and something that can reflect all the radiance of the One who created us.
... So don't fight the pain and hardships of this world as they are indeed par for the course. Instead, embrace them as a refining process that allows you to reflect the One who has created you and promises to never leave you or forsake you. Don't waste the pain. He certainly didn't and because He didn't we now have life and have it more abundantly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)