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| Pride. It's a sin that seems to lie at the root of most sins. People may gossip and put others down to build themselves up, to make themselves look better than the competition. They want to build their own egos by putting the blame on someone else, making themselves out to be the holy, righteous crusaders for truth. Pride is also fed as people make money, fame and power their gods. They want to build themselves up and leave a name for themselves. They want to be remembered and glorified and they want to be able to have a great deal of pride in themselves. They desire to "feel good" about themselves. We, as sinful, lost creatures shouldn't focus on feeling good about ourselves. We should focus on Christ and what He has done for us. Our greatest satisfaction should come from knowing Christ and living in a dependent relationship on Him.
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:8)
Our self-esteem, our egos and our unhealthy pride in ourselves don't matter when it comes to Christ.
(I must add that I am certainly not immune from pride and self-serving arrogance. In fact, the sin of pride in my own life inspired me to write the above post) | | |
| After numerous philosophical posts, my sister has been questioning my blogging tactics as though they were too stiff, formal, and lacked any personal touch. I will therefore devote the content of this post to more personal items (although my other posts have related to personal events as they have sought to go in depth on the topics of life -or at least I hope they are topics of life and I am not merely living in a philosophical world of my own imagination).
So to commence a more personal post.....
I went to work today, as I usually do, and completed various communications requested of me. I then proceeded to work on other long-term projects. I left work early to have a meeting with my senior pastor in order to discuss seminary, theology, and the beliefs of our charismatic Lutheran church. It was quite interesting to get his opinion on various matters, and I hope to meet with him in future years. I pray that God would use such meetings to guide me as to whether I should pursue seminary or not. I know that God can use me to do ministry in any sphere, but I would love to serve him as a full-time church worker. Finally, I came home, ate dinner, and did some reading in the book, "Galileo's Daughter" by Dava Sobel. It provides a history of Galileo's life, especially in his scientific discoveries.
Before I close, I would like to address a comment posted on my blog by rachers05, who questioned my belief in God. I commend her for asking this. It is far better for people to ask than to go into one of two camps. Either they profess a religious affiliation and care nothing about God or they reject God and don't care to hear anything about him. I am grateful for people who bring up questions about God, for it shows that they care about more than the trivial things of this earth. They are thinking about the eternal.
So, the question remains, how am I so sure God exists? First of all, belief in God is only by faith. God's existence cannot be proven by a scientific test. However, if man could take God and put him to man's created tests, would He be that much of a God? Wouldn't He be more of a test object that man toys around with to see what he can get out of? While we can't prove, by man's tests, that God exists, we can't prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that He doesn't exist. The question is therefore up for debate.
The most convincing proof for God's existence lies in His work in the lives of individuals. People across the world and throughout the centuries have been changed by the Gospel. Jesus' disciples were scared and timid before the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost. After Pentecost, they risked their lives and all except one died a martyr's death proclaiming the truth that Jesus is God and died on the cross to forgive the sins of the world. The proof of Jesus' deity lies in His resurrection. If the disciples had stolen His body or not really seen Him after He rose from the dead, why would they get themselves killed? They wouldn't have given themselves up for a lie. One of the best books on this subject is Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ." Strobel was a journalist who, if I remember right, became a Christian after investigating Christianity.
In closing, I know that Christ is real because He has worked in my life. He has changed me and made me a different person. He has given me His Holy Spirit, who reminds me of Scripture's commands. Christianity is not just a set of rules concocted by man. Christianity is a relationship with Christ with the promise of eternal life. | | |
| Opportunity Cost. It's an economic term for the amount of money you could earn if you were doing something else. After this concept was labeled for me in my political economy, I began to think about what I did in economic terms. I considered how much money I could be earning in the hour I decided to spend with family. This type of mindset is very dangerous, as it focuses an individual's attention merely on monetary gain. Monetary gain is useless, however, if it does not glorify God.
The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3:7, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
Paul's opportunity cost wasn't an amount of money. No money could compare to "knowing Christ," losing all things, and being made righteous before God apart from the law. | | |
| Politics. It seems to be in everything. People (including myself) want to pander to each other, especially those above them in order to gain favors and win recognition. Although it may appear that a person is idolizing others, he or she may be doing it merely for his or her own gain. In such a case, the person is really idolizing him or herself. The person wants himself to look good, to be seen as respectable, kind, popular in the eyes of another, especially those in power. Christians must abandon this idolatry of personal fame. We must seek to glorify God. May everything point to Him.
Galatians 6:14: "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world."
May all fame and glory go to Christ. | | |
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