Spiritual Reflections
Falling in love with God in a fallen world
Here is another post on spiritual revelations and thoughts I am having while in Africa. If you've just come to this blog for the African Adventures, feel free to skip this post. There will be more on beach visits, bad golf courses, and snorkeling at a later date. That said...
The more time I spend reading God’s Word and the words of many wise men like Lewis, Yancey and the like, the more I am convinced that faith in God is the only way to true happiness in this world. The only way to true freedom. I think of what the world has to offer me. Riches, prosperity, health, wealth. All of these can be taken away. Whether you believe in an omnipotent God, or you believe that all life is random chance, or your beliefs fall somewhere in between, it is abundantly clear that all of what the world offers can be taken away in a heartbeat. We can die suddenly, or we can be stricken with disease. We lose loved ones. Fortunes can be wiped out by stockmarket crashes, downsizing. Governments can be overthrown. Countries can be liberated, or imprisoned. What is the point of life for someone who doesn’t believe in a higher power? I can only speculate based on my experience. I cannot recall a time where I didn’t believe in a God, but I spent much of my life not living for Him. I lived for accumulation of wealth. I lived for accolades. I lived for victories and competition. I lived to be the best at whatever I put my mind to, or at least to be the best that I can be. I don’t think the drive to succeed is a bad thing. But I think it is important we look at what we are chasing. Do I want to chase mere fleeting moments of happiness that occur from winning a battle or an award? Or do I want to chase the lasting satisfaction of knowing that I have positively impacted someone else’s life. Maybe for the first time, I am beginning to see the wisdom in the Biblical ideal of chasing after eternal and not earthly blessings. We get so much more when we give, and what we get is of so much more value. The key to growing in our faith is to grow in humility. This doesn’t mean thinking less of ourselves, but rather means thinking of ourselves less. It means thinking of God, and thinking of others. The two greatest commandments are to love God, and to love our neighbour. I personally believe that we don’t truly know how to love our neighbour without first loving God. God is love, and He shows us how to love. We love by sacrificing ourselves for others. Giving up our own wants for the good of those around us. Being conscious of how our lifestyle affects our neighbour, whether our neighbour is across the street or across the world.
I am far happier and far more at peace when I am doing a job that is helping other people, more than a job that is mainly just helping my bank account. I believe that living simply and being content in all circumstances, and being thankful for our gifts instead of taking them for granted, all lead to a more fulfilling life. We should work hard. We are commanded to work hard. I don’t suggest that we loaf in our jobs. I just suggest we examine our priorities. Is working 100 hours a week at a job you don’t like so that you can save money to provide for a family you don’t get to see a good prioritization of time? The old expression that time is money is true. You can always earn some more cash, but can you ever get back the time that you sacrificed in order to get it? The time away from your children? Your spouse? Again, I acknowledge that we all must work. And I believe we are commanded to work hard at whatever we are doing, as if we were doing it for God. But here’s the thing. If I do all things as if I’m doing them for God, it changes both what I do, and how I do it. I think about what God values. God values relationships, He values grace and mercy, He values thanksgiving. When I remember to do things as unto God, I live more deliberately. I am more thankful and take less for granted, I am less selfish and more concerned with the needs of others, I am more alert and less prone to shutting down my brain, I am more forgiving and patient and less prone to anger and intolerance. I am more than ever convinced that this is a better way to live.
The other concept of my faith that makes little sense is forgiveness. But if we don’t forgive, what are we left with? Bitterness, hatred, and revenge. Even though I can think of many reasons not to forgive people sometimes, it strikes me as a far better option than the alternatives. And what we fail to realize is that almost all the time, holding a grudge against someone hurts us way more than it hurts them. They may not even care that we are still mad, but our anger imprisons us. How do we learn to forgive? We look to God’s grace. I once defined grace as treating everyone like their mother just died. When someone has a crisis like that in their lives, we are more likely to forgive many things that otherwise we would hold on to. I can’t imagine saying “I’m sorry your mother just died, but why are you always 10 minutes late?” or “I’m sorry your mother just died, but I’m mad at you for forgetting to take out the garbage” This works as a good reminder for me to treat people the way that we should treat them anyway. The best way to get rid of an enemy is to make them a friend.
More and more, I am convinced that Christian principles are a better way to live. I believe the Bible and obey God because I believe He created us, He loves us, and wants to teach us a better way to live. Only love can motivate us to get past our own selfish desires and love God and love our neighbour. Obedience without love is shortlived and usually fills one with resentment. Love without obedience isn’t really love. I am not going to try and convince others of the truth of this, only to explain why I live as I live, or at least as I try to live. And also, writing this reminds me on days when I want to forget.
Here is another post on spiritual revelations and thoughts I am having while in Africa. If you've just come to this blog for the African Adventures, feel free to skip this post. There will be more on beach visits, bad golf courses, and snorkeling at a later date. That said...
The more time I spend reading God’s Word and the words of many wise men like Lewis, Yancey and the like, the more I am convinced that faith in God is the only way to true happiness in this world. The only way to true freedom. I think of what the world has to offer me. Riches, prosperity, health, wealth. All of these can be taken away. Whether you believe in an omnipotent God, or you believe that all life is random chance, or your beliefs fall somewhere in between, it is abundantly clear that all of what the world offers can be taken away in a heartbeat. We can die suddenly, or we can be stricken with disease. We lose loved ones. Fortunes can be wiped out by stockmarket crashes, downsizing. Governments can be overthrown. Countries can be liberated, or imprisoned. What is the point of life for someone who doesn’t believe in a higher power? I can only speculate based on my experience. I cannot recall a time where I didn’t believe in a God, but I spent much of my life not living for Him. I lived for accumulation of wealth. I lived for accolades. I lived for victories and competition. I lived to be the best at whatever I put my mind to, or at least to be the best that I can be. I don’t think the drive to succeed is a bad thing. But I think it is important we look at what we are chasing. Do I want to chase mere fleeting moments of happiness that occur from winning a battle or an award? Or do I want to chase the lasting satisfaction of knowing that I have positively impacted someone else’s life. Maybe for the first time, I am beginning to see the wisdom in the Biblical ideal of chasing after eternal and not earthly blessings. We get so much more when we give, and what we get is of so much more value. The key to growing in our faith is to grow in humility. This doesn’t mean thinking less of ourselves, but rather means thinking of ourselves less. It means thinking of God, and thinking of others. The two greatest commandments are to love God, and to love our neighbour. I personally believe that we don’t truly know how to love our neighbour without first loving God. God is love, and He shows us how to love. We love by sacrificing ourselves for others. Giving up our own wants for the good of those around us. Being conscious of how our lifestyle affects our neighbour, whether our neighbour is across the street or across the world.
I am far happier and far more at peace when I am doing a job that is helping other people, more than a job that is mainly just helping my bank account. I believe that living simply and being content in all circumstances, and being thankful for our gifts instead of taking them for granted, all lead to a more fulfilling life. We should work hard. We are commanded to work hard. I don’t suggest that we loaf in our jobs. I just suggest we examine our priorities. Is working 100 hours a week at a job you don’t like so that you can save money to provide for a family you don’t get to see a good prioritization of time? The old expression that time is money is true. You can always earn some more cash, but can you ever get back the time that you sacrificed in order to get it? The time away from your children? Your spouse? Again, I acknowledge that we all must work. And I believe we are commanded to work hard at whatever we are doing, as if we were doing it for God. But here’s the thing. If I do all things as if I’m doing them for God, it changes both what I do, and how I do it. I think about what God values. God values relationships, He values grace and mercy, He values thanksgiving. When I remember to do things as unto God, I live more deliberately. I am more thankful and take less for granted, I am less selfish and more concerned with the needs of others, I am more alert and less prone to shutting down my brain, I am more forgiving and patient and less prone to anger and intolerance. I am more than ever convinced that this is a better way to live.
The other concept of my faith that makes little sense is forgiveness. But if we don’t forgive, what are we left with? Bitterness, hatred, and revenge. Even though I can think of many reasons not to forgive people sometimes, it strikes me as a far better option than the alternatives. And what we fail to realize is that almost all the time, holding a grudge against someone hurts us way more than it hurts them. They may not even care that we are still mad, but our anger imprisons us. How do we learn to forgive? We look to God’s grace. I once defined grace as treating everyone like their mother just died. When someone has a crisis like that in their lives, we are more likely to forgive many things that otherwise we would hold on to. I can’t imagine saying “I’m sorry your mother just died, but why are you always 10 minutes late?” or “I’m sorry your mother just died, but I’m mad at you for forgetting to take out the garbage” This works as a good reminder for me to treat people the way that we should treat them anyway. The best way to get rid of an enemy is to make them a friend.
More and more, I am convinced that Christian principles are a better way to live. I believe the Bible and obey God because I believe He created us, He loves us, and wants to teach us a better way to live. Only love can motivate us to get past our own selfish desires and love God and love our neighbour. Obedience without love is shortlived and usually fills one with resentment. Love without obedience isn’t really love. I am not going to try and convince others of the truth of this, only to explain why I live as I live, or at least as I try to live. And also, writing this reminds me on days when I want to forget.
posted by Chuck @ 4:31 AM
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