"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." Gal. 1:10
I'll be the first to confess that often times I am more worried about pleasing others than God. Before I make a decision, sometimes my first thought is, "what would he/she think of this?" rather than "what would God want me to do." It's something I definitely have to work on. A commentary I read on this verse said this, "Whom we seek to please shows who pleases us. The more Christ pleases, the more earnestly shall we seek to please Him in all we say and do and think." Ouch! If I'm seeking to please others, that's saying that I don't find all my pleasure in Christ alone. That He is not sufficient for me, that I'm not satisfied in Him. How terrible! Since I've become a follower of Christ, what is my aim in life? To please my Savior. So why do I want to please others? Well, cause I don't want to look like a fool? Is the gospel foolish? "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" 1 Corinthians 1:18 says. It's foolish to those who are perishing. And will it really matter at the end of my life if a few people on the earth thought I was a bit crazy and foolish for being a christian? I really don't think I'll care too much about that. I shouldn't want to please others more than God. My heart should not be divided. Matthew 6:24 says, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." My life is devoted to God, I surrendered my life to Him, He should be my focus. If we lived to please God entirely with everything we do, I wonder how different our lives would be, or even the world would be. Whom do you find your most pleasure, is it people around you, or God?
23.3.10
9.3.10
Pressing on towards the goal
I can't think of a better feeling than to hear my mom or dad say, "I'm proud of you" or "Good job". It's the greatest feeling 'cause I feel like I'm doing something right. From all the times I mess up, it's nice to know that I'm not a total failure. lol. My dad doesn't give out compliments flippantly, but every now and then he'll tell me, "Ya know, you're a good kid." That means a lot.
There's nothing more that I want than to get to heaven and hear "well done, my good and faithful servant." It's one thing to please my earthly father (and mother) but wow, my Heavenly Father. It's hard to think that someone like me could please God who is so holy. I certainly don't live in light of that every day. I let my flesh get in the way so many times. I don't love like I should. I'm not always patient. I'm very much not always selfless. The list could go on. My desire is to please my Father and King. And the constant daily struggle to live a holy life, to die to my flesh, to be pure...all these things we are called to do that in our flesh we don't want to do; it's so worth putting those things down and fighting them to hear at the end of my life, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." It's worth the fight, it's worth the struggle to keep persevering. And we don't have to do it alone! God gives us the grace to endure. 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us, “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." So whenever my little brother or sister is just annoying the heck out of me and I really want to say something ugly and I resist, it's His grace that enables me to die to myself. (I know that's a weak example, but it's all I could come up with at the moment). And I give God glory for that, because I know I couldn't do it on my own. It's emptying me of myself. Jeremy Camp has a song that I love (I love all his songs), but this particular one is called Empty Me. I love the chorus, and it goes like this,
"Holy Fire burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me,
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah,
Fill, won't you fill me,
with you, with you, yeah."
So...I totally went off track here. Sorry. But to get back on track, I was talking about heaven, thinking of how great it will be when we get there. I think of the moment when Jesus comes back, the relief. It's like when you study for days or even weeks and months over a really huge test, and it's exhausting and you don't like it, it's hard. But you press on and keep doing it because you know you have a goal to reach, and that goal is a big fat 'A'. So after all those long days you spend disciplining yourself and learning you finally take the test. You get the results back and there is the big fat 'A'. The relief that comes over you is beyond words. All your hard work payed off and now it's over, no more tests, no more long days of pouring over information. Just like this life is a test for us, and every day we try to do better, we work and discipline ourselves towards our goal. Our goal is heaven. Then after our time is up, the test is over. Knowing that all the hardships, all the trials, all the tears and pain will be no more. It's over. Finished. Now we get to sit at our Savior's feet and worship Him with the angels. To sit in His glory. I can't wait. I'm reminded more and more that this is not our home, we are only passing through. We have a job to do, that is to tell others about our wonderful Heavenly Father, to glorify Him in all that we do, and spread the love of Christ. Don't lose sight of the Mission, we're not finished yet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U-hOMunpWo
There's nothing more that I want than to get to heaven and hear "well done, my good and faithful servant." It's one thing to please my earthly father (and mother) but wow, my Heavenly Father. It's hard to think that someone like me could please God who is so holy. I certainly don't live in light of that every day. I let my flesh get in the way so many times. I don't love like I should. I'm not always patient. I'm very much not always selfless. The list could go on. My desire is to please my Father and King. And the constant daily struggle to live a holy life, to die to my flesh, to be pure...all these things we are called to do that in our flesh we don't want to do; it's so worth putting those things down and fighting them to hear at the end of my life, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." It's worth the fight, it's worth the struggle to keep persevering. And we don't have to do it alone! God gives us the grace to endure. 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us, “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." So whenever my little brother or sister is just annoying the heck out of me and I really want to say something ugly and I resist, it's His grace that enables me to die to myself. (I know that's a weak example, but it's all I could come up with at the moment). And I give God glory for that, because I know I couldn't do it on my own. It's emptying me of myself. Jeremy Camp has a song that I love (I love all his songs), but this particular one is called Empty Me. I love the chorus, and it goes like this,
"Holy Fire burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me,
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah,
Fill, won't you fill me,
with you, with you, yeah."
So...I totally went off track here. Sorry. But to get back on track, I was talking about heaven, thinking of how great it will be when we get there. I think of the moment when Jesus comes back, the relief. It's like when you study for days or even weeks and months over a really huge test, and it's exhausting and you don't like it, it's hard. But you press on and keep doing it because you know you have a goal to reach, and that goal is a big fat 'A'. So after all those long days you spend disciplining yourself and learning you finally take the test. You get the results back and there is the big fat 'A'. The relief that comes over you is beyond words. All your hard work payed off and now it's over, no more tests, no more long days of pouring over information. Just like this life is a test for us, and every day we try to do better, we work and discipline ourselves towards our goal. Our goal is heaven. Then after our time is up, the test is over. Knowing that all the hardships, all the trials, all the tears and pain will be no more. It's over. Finished. Now we get to sit at our Savior's feet and worship Him with the angels. To sit in His glory. I can't wait. I'm reminded more and more that this is not our home, we are only passing through. We have a job to do, that is to tell others about our wonderful Heavenly Father, to glorify Him in all that we do, and spread the love of Christ. Don't lose sight of the Mission, we're not finished yet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U-hOMunpWo
6.3.10
Love
I came across this poem the other day, and initially someones reaction would probably be, "Aww, that's so sweet." I had a slightly different reaction. Even thought this poem was speaking of someone else, I found it awfully self-centered. Here's what it said:
That to me, is loving someone for what they do for you, not for loving the person. It's selfish to love someone for their 'thoughts of me' and 'how you make me feel'. I'm not saying that those things are bad necessarily, I'm sure they're all true and nice. My problem with this poem is this: should it be the reason you love someone? I don't think so. Your love for someone should not be based off of all the things they do for you. Think of God's love. We did nothing worth loving, yet He still loves us and gave His son for us. Am I overreacting and reading into things too much? maybe so (lol). I just think so much of relationships today are based off of what he/she did or didn't do for me. Or how he/she makes me feel, how he/she isn't paying attention to me or giving me what I need. You get the point. Selfless love, that's how God loves us, that's how we should love.
I love you for giving your heart to me
and trusting me with your pride
I love you for wanting me
and needing me by your side
I love you for the emotions
i never knew i had
I love you for making me smile
whenever I feel sad
I love you for your thoughts of me
and for how you make me feel
But most of all I love you
'cuz I know you're mine for real.
That to me, is loving someone for what they do for you, not for loving the person. It's selfish to love someone for their 'thoughts of me' and 'how you make me feel'. I'm not saying that those things are bad necessarily, I'm sure they're all true and nice. My problem with this poem is this: should it be the reason you love someone? I don't think so. Your love for someone should not be based off of all the things they do for you. Think of God's love. We did nothing worth loving, yet He still loves us and gave His son for us. Am I overreacting and reading into things too much? maybe so (lol). I just think so much of relationships today are based off of what he/she did or didn't do for me. Or how he/she makes me feel, how he/she isn't paying attention to me or giving me what I need. You get the point. Selfless love, that's how God loves us, that's how we should love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)