God has given us a wonderful choice once again. He graciously gives us free choice when we decided to have faith in Him or not. And here again he is giving us another choice. Do we want to life in the "Flesh" as Apostle Paul describes it? Or do we want to live life by the Spirit? Similarly James touches on this issue as well but instead calls it earthly and heavenly wisdom.
Below I will list the scriptures for reference of these particular characteristics.
My first question is: Why do we even have a choice? Imagine that choice once again. This question is more geared towards non believers who think Christianity is merely about legalism.
God is always giving us options whether it would be about salvation or even what the Christian Principles look like.
First let's look at living in the flesh. What do you accomplish or long to attain when you satisfy your sinful desires? Galatians describes these as sinful natures, "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious; sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God".
On the other hand Paul describes how to live in the Spirit, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, and kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law."
Again we do have a choice to make. In choosing this option of living by the Spirit, it is not going to be pretty and entails suffering. It will mean we have to learn what it means to "take up our cross" on a daily basis.
By choosing to live with the Spirit it produces blessings. These qualities are from God and not earth and more certainly not from man.
Showing posts with label Selfishness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Selfishness. Show all posts
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
I Deserve!
What do you feel like you deserve? I constantly hear the selfish words "I deserve..." coming out of peoples mouths. I am no better I have moments where I think I deserve something I do not have. However, that is exactly the problem in our society of takers. We are taught in The Bible not to covet what we do not have. I find myself constantly teaching my son this lesson when he tells me he wants some new toy he sees another child playing with.
I hear the words "I deserve" from a lot of adults and sadly most of them are my Christian friends. I am going to be brutally honest when I tell you in love that you were not born into this life to "deserve" a certain lifestyle society deems good. Is it fair for us as children of God to demand that we deserve a better situation, spouse, friend, or even child?
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Are we treating people the way we want to be treated or are we just taking and expecting more?
We all face disappointments but that does not mean we should turn around and start commanding others to do things you want. As a person who decides to live with using my heart before my brain I am saddened we treat our dear Brothers and Sisters this way. We were born to serve Christ first of all and to follow His commands.
Matthew 16:24 says, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Matthew 16:24 says, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Feelings of the Flesh
I find myself getting angry with those around me (and even people I don't know). It's not that they even did anything to make me mad. I am mostly mad at myself. Mad that I am not where I think I need to be. Honestly, at times I don't even know the gifts God has given me.
The only thing remotely close is writing. Am I talented? I would have to say no and that is what gets me angry. I feel like I have to prove myself to be good in the eyes of society. Even though society did not even give me this gift they have the ability to tear it apart.
Looking for a job has been frustrating especially as a single Mom. I didn't even want to be a single Mom in the first place. I follow God's commands and divorce had no place in my plans.
I have frequent thoughts about how long it's been since I held my last job. Granted I have some solid work experience in the law field but that was over 5 years ago. It would be awesome to just be able to write for the church as a living but I'm not sure how they could happen. I don't have the degrees it takes to have a job like that. I'm stressed out because I'm the one that has to care for my son. I am the one having to think about how am I going to put a roof over our heads and put him through school. I just want more DANG IT!!!! I know God has the perfect plan for our lives. I'm just getting antsy.
It reminds me of the time I was homeless. Yes that's right I was once homeless. When you are homeless you experience some tough emotions. People don't even look at you as a person. Sometimes it felt like I was nonexistent, not worth much, can't contribute to society, and was dependent on help from others. Thank the Lord that did not last long but the feelings from that experience I will remember forever.
That pain of rejection was hard to take at the time but now I feel like I'm going through a different form of that. I am attending school to finish my Bachelors Degree but until I have it most employers won't look twice at me. I'm facing the fact that I have got to find a place to live SOON and furthermore, I need a job to get there.
Another observation I've made is how much people do not care about one another. Now I am lucky to have a couple of really great people in my life but other than that people have this, "Not my problem" mentality. Seriously, do we need a refresher course on the teachings of Apostle Paul??
Finally, I am mad at myself because I have preached on the principle that God is the only thing I need. That I just need His love for survival. It's true we need His love and His strength to survive and to cope. However, these past couple of weeks have taught me how crucial it is to fellowship with other brothers and sisters who have gone through similar things in life.
We have two choices: 1.) We can build each other up OR 2.) Tear each other down. What are your actions saying to people??
Also, are we loving others like they need us to?? We were called to serve one another and it deeply pains me to see Christians, our own brothers and sisters, in pain because they think the body of Christ doesn't love or even like them. Lets not forget we were also called to love one another. We should not wait until we "feel" the love from Christ in order to share it with others.
As a society are we practicing unconditional love like Jesus teaches us to do?? Or are we putting conditions on our love based on our wants?
The only thing remotely close is writing. Am I talented? I would have to say no and that is what gets me angry. I feel like I have to prove myself to be good in the eyes of society. Even though society did not even give me this gift they have the ability to tear it apart.
Looking for a job has been frustrating especially as a single Mom. I didn't even want to be a single Mom in the first place. I follow God's commands and divorce had no place in my plans.
I have frequent thoughts about how long it's been since I held my last job. Granted I have some solid work experience in the law field but that was over 5 years ago. It would be awesome to just be able to write for the church as a living but I'm not sure how they could happen. I don't have the degrees it takes to have a job like that. I'm stressed out because I'm the one that has to care for my son. I am the one having to think about how am I going to put a roof over our heads and put him through school. I just want more DANG IT!!!! I know God has the perfect plan for our lives. I'm just getting antsy.
It reminds me of the time I was homeless. Yes that's right I was once homeless. When you are homeless you experience some tough emotions. People don't even look at you as a person. Sometimes it felt like I was nonexistent, not worth much, can't contribute to society, and was dependent on help from others. Thank the Lord that did not last long but the feelings from that experience I will remember forever.
That pain of rejection was hard to take at the time but now I feel like I'm going through a different form of that. I am attending school to finish my Bachelors Degree but until I have it most employers won't look twice at me. I'm facing the fact that I have got to find a place to live SOON and furthermore, I need a job to get there.
Another observation I've made is how much people do not care about one another. Now I am lucky to have a couple of really great people in my life but other than that people have this, "Not my problem" mentality. Seriously, do we need a refresher course on the teachings of Apostle Paul??
Finally, I am mad at myself because I have preached on the principle that God is the only thing I need. That I just need His love for survival. It's true we need His love and His strength to survive and to cope. However, these past couple of weeks have taught me how crucial it is to fellowship with other brothers and sisters who have gone through similar things in life.
We have two choices: 1.) We can build each other up OR 2.) Tear each other down. What are your actions saying to people??
Also, are we loving others like they need us to?? We were called to serve one another and it deeply pains me to see Christians, our own brothers and sisters, in pain because they think the body of Christ doesn't love or even like them. Lets not forget we were also called to love one another. We should not wait until we "feel" the love from Christ in order to share it with others.
As a society are we practicing unconditional love like Jesus teaches us to do?? Or are we putting conditions on our love based on our wants?
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