Oh, To Be Balanced.
I received a word of encouragement from Christ the other day, he told me he was reading in Proverbs and that he was reminded of me. He couldn't remember the verse but his recollection of it was something to the effect that " A wise man overlooks transgression." All I could find in Proverbs that reminds me of this is 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back."
My first response to this is that this may be me, but if I'm going to err on this point it's going to be on the side of apathy. So I took the compliment, but not without my own self-deprecating caveat.
As I was thinking about this today it dawned on me that whenever someone gives me a compliment I have to remind myself of all the sin that's in my life, just to offset the compliment. It might not sound like that bad of a thing to do; however, it seems that my friends have seen fit to remind me of the grace that God has shown me in my life. The thing on my mind seems to be my flesh trying to bring me down. I just can't seem to accept the fact that God may actually be doing something in my life.
I'm in a dating relationship with a girl right now, Kala, and for the longest time I wouldn't even consider a relationship with this girl because I considered her to be too godly for me. Not only is this not fair to her or any other woman out there that this may be happening to, but I'm finding that it's just not true. I'm not saying that Kala is not as godly as I thought she was, quite the opposite actually. I'm finding though that she's even more godly than I originally assumed. What I'm also finding is that even though I feel as if I'm not good enough for her, I'm still able to lead her, encourage her, pray for her, love her, serve her, and even challenge her.
I also got a letter from Charlie this week and he gave me about the best praise from a friend I'd ever received. We've been through some hard times as of late and through it all we're still best friends. Well he writes me a letter, that's right a letter and not an e-mail, and tells me that he was reading his Bible and got to the verse that always reminds him of me I Samuel 14:6-7 "Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, 'Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.' And his armor-bearer said to him, 'Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold I am with you heart and soul.'" Really good compliment right, well I thought so. Of course, I stay true to form and consider all of the ways that I'm not as good of a friend as Charlie thinks I am.
So basically the guy who can't possibly point someone to a verse in Proverbs, can't possibly lead that extremely godly woman, and can't remotely be considered to be that good of a friend is being told by three very close friends that he actually does do these things. The point of all this isn't to brag on how great my friends think I am (because the sin that I'm so quick to point out is still there), but to show that even though we're sinners God is still using us for His glory. It is a good thing to be reminded of sin, but just because we're afraid of being prideful (which does need to be kept in check) doesn't mean that we shouldn't rejoice in the work that God has prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2). Remember that God rejoices in a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51), but that he will complete what good works He has started. I just find it kind of funny how someone like myself who doesn't really lack in self-confidence when dealing with things of worldly nature has so much trouble accepting the fact that God is working in his life.
This is the truth though, if your a Christian God is working in your life, and He's doing it in a powerful way. We are freed from the bondage of sin, we are Christlike (not perfectly, but we are), are relationship with God is restored, we are children of God, we are heirs with Christ, etc, however, we can't possibly view ourselves as anything but sinners. Since I've been saved, six years ago, I've been purified to a certain extent and God has made me more like Him, more Christlike. This is something to rejoiced in, this is something that should make worshippers out of His followers, but we're too busy condemning ourselves of sins that we've been forgiven for. So remember your sin, but remember that God is accomplishing much more than you think He is. He is a faithful God, He will fulfill His promises. We just need to pray for the faith necessary to believe these things.
My first response to this is that this may be me, but if I'm going to err on this point it's going to be on the side of apathy. So I took the compliment, but not without my own self-deprecating caveat.
As I was thinking about this today it dawned on me that whenever someone gives me a compliment I have to remind myself of all the sin that's in my life, just to offset the compliment. It might not sound like that bad of a thing to do; however, it seems that my friends have seen fit to remind me of the grace that God has shown me in my life. The thing on my mind seems to be my flesh trying to bring me down. I just can't seem to accept the fact that God may actually be doing something in my life.
I'm in a dating relationship with a girl right now, Kala, and for the longest time I wouldn't even consider a relationship with this girl because I considered her to be too godly for me. Not only is this not fair to her or any other woman out there that this may be happening to, but I'm finding that it's just not true. I'm not saying that Kala is not as godly as I thought she was, quite the opposite actually. I'm finding though that she's even more godly than I originally assumed. What I'm also finding is that even though I feel as if I'm not good enough for her, I'm still able to lead her, encourage her, pray for her, love her, serve her, and even challenge her.
I also got a letter from Charlie this week and he gave me about the best praise from a friend I'd ever received. We've been through some hard times as of late and through it all we're still best friends. Well he writes me a letter, that's right a letter and not an e-mail, and tells me that he was reading his Bible and got to the verse that always reminds him of me I Samuel 14:6-7 "Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, 'Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.' And his armor-bearer said to him, 'Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold I am with you heart and soul.'" Really good compliment right, well I thought so. Of course, I stay true to form and consider all of the ways that I'm not as good of a friend as Charlie thinks I am.
So basically the guy who can't possibly point someone to a verse in Proverbs, can't possibly lead that extremely godly woman, and can't remotely be considered to be that good of a friend is being told by three very close friends that he actually does do these things. The point of all this isn't to brag on how great my friends think I am (because the sin that I'm so quick to point out is still there), but to show that even though we're sinners God is still using us for His glory. It is a good thing to be reminded of sin, but just because we're afraid of being prideful (which does need to be kept in check) doesn't mean that we shouldn't rejoice in the work that God has prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2). Remember that God rejoices in a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51), but that he will complete what good works He has started. I just find it kind of funny how someone like myself who doesn't really lack in self-confidence when dealing with things of worldly nature has so much trouble accepting the fact that God is working in his life.
This is the truth though, if your a Christian God is working in your life, and He's doing it in a powerful way. We are freed from the bondage of sin, we are Christlike (not perfectly, but we are), are relationship with God is restored, we are children of God, we are heirs with Christ, etc, however, we can't possibly view ourselves as anything but sinners. Since I've been saved, six years ago, I've been purified to a certain extent and God has made me more like Him, more Christlike. This is something to rejoiced in, this is something that should make worshippers out of His followers, but we're too busy condemning ourselves of sins that we've been forgiven for. So remember your sin, but remember that God is accomplishing much more than you think He is. He is a faithful God, He will fulfill His promises. We just need to pray for the faith necessary to believe these things.
posted by J Lo @ 00:15
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