We all like to think we have a good moral compass, most of us harp on about it in some shape or form. We talk about equality, inclusiveness and all those nice things that make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. But when the rubber hits the road what are we really like? Personally i know if i could be imprisoned for my thoughts, i would be serving a mass of concurrent life sentences and not getting Married this october. Justification is something i use to deceive myself, that at times my thought process is just like Jesus, when in reality it owes more to Satan and hatred and evil. But i will justify it in some way to make myself feel better. Actions can be great for showing, but thoughts are a different matter. They are seldom verbalised and thankfully even less actioned, but there is a real problem when our action and spoken life do not match with our thought patterns. Is it right to pray for someone to die, but then pray for someones healing? Paul tells us in the Bible that the tongue is the hardest thing to control, and since the advent of the interweb, our keyboards need to be controlled. A double minded person is unstable in all their ways, we have to match our thoughts with our actions, no matter how hard it is at times we have to love our enemies, pray for them and bless them. It's a hard one because it's easy to pray blessing on a family member or friend, but a whole different ball game comes into being when we have to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. It maybe the neighbour from hell who winds us up, a boss who is a bully, anything can cause rage to fly within us. Just push the right buttons and let's watch them fly, 20,000 ft and counting.
Over the years i have changed with regards to anger and violence, heck even when i came back to church i was for a time involved in a regular punch up, but broken bones take longer to heal when you get older. As time has wore on i have mellowed, some may even say matured (but they are very few ). Personally i like to think as i have grown in my faith, something of the goodness of God has gotten hold of me and made me a better person, now i'm someone who hopefully thinks before getting to 20,000ft, not because i'm better than anyone else, but because something that is of God is alive in me and changing me bit by bit. Lets let go of the anger, let go of the stuff that stops us reflecting glory, and instead of kicking out against humanity, lets kick the darkness till it bleeds daylight
Once again, your words have made me look within and promise myself to try and be a better person, be more like my good friend Andy.
ReplyDeleteAndy, I get the feeling you make a huge difference in lots of people's lives, not you per se but what God does through you and what he has done for you, the changes he is making and is still gonna make in your life. You have made yourself vulnerable and softened your heart, not easy things to do for anyone. I applaud your works, and pray that God continues to use you in lots of situations.
ReplyDeleteIt is great that God doesn't look on the outside but looks inside. It's great when we are at the start or restart of our journey, cos we know our insides have been wiped clean and forgotten by the Lord. The difficulty comes in the next week, next month, next year. When we can no longer be bolstered by that initial filling of the Spirit. When it becomes lip service.
Then it doesn't matter if God looks at our insides or outsides they are going to be mouldy like the man's food barns or the treasure seeker on earth. We can no longer stand behind the words "with all my heart mind and soul" "everything I think say or do"
It is obvious in my walk when I am struggling because I refuse to take my place either in the praise team or as a preacher. I refuse to be a hypocrite. If I am struggling I say so. I cannot let go of that stripped bare honesty because it is more important to me to glorify God's name than smoke a cigarette, it is more important for me (now 4 days and counting) to glorify God's name than drink alcohol, it is more important for me to glorify God's name than to have the last word, or the last laugh. And most of all to keep my thoughts focused on the Lord, if they are focused on the Lord and all he does then they don't wander down alleys I wouldn't want him to have to go with me.