I am careful about this in my own life because my flesh can grow bolder and arrogant of self-centered rather than Christ-centered. How am I REALLY serving Christ?
"Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life."—Psalm 39:4
This is my own "self-examination" regarding my relationship with God because "personal interest" is the motive behind all conducts that foolish decisions and proudful. How can I distinguish my motives?
It is a grave responsibility when we take upon ourselves when we seek to edit out of God's true character for the benefits of ourselves. As Christians, our hearts should have holy motives to serve God through the Holy Spirit.
I love this quote by A.W. Tozer:
"The carnal approach usually does little more than to alienate the enemy still further from us and, worse than all, it puts us in a position where God cannot help us. The enemy never quite knows how to deal with a humble man; he is so used to dealing with proud, stubborn people that a meek man upsets his timetable. And furthermore, the man of true humility has God fighting on his side--who can win against God?"
It's been jokingly said, "I love Christians but it's their attitude I can't stand." Christians continue to manifest childish behavior instead of growing to spiritual adulthood is a sign of spiritual weakness. They often ignore the sanctifying effects of the cross carrying and skip the Spiritual training which is necessary for forming spiritual fruits that are needed to wrestle against the world, the devil and the flesh. In 1 Corinthians 13:5 says "Love does not act unbecomingly"
Satan's first sin is pride, then the real source is PRIDE. If we desire honor and glory from God, we must display humility first. That is contrary to our earthly philosophy, which exalts pride. God gives his grace only to the humble, who admit their dependence on it. If, therefore, we hope for his grace to lift us up to holiness, we must "humble (ourselves) before the Lord" (Jas 4:10). The Greek word alazoneia refers to being proud when you really have nothing to be proud about. We live in a proud and egotistical generation. "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (Jas 4:6, quoting Pr 3:34). God's grace is amply sufficient to enable us to live a godly life that God gives his grace only to the humble, who admit their dependence on it. If, therefore, we hope for his grace to lift us up to holiness, we must "humble before the Lord" in faith.
Thank you for reminding me and I am going to share this blog post in my blog tonight with others. This is a good blog today.
Jim
When Your Heart Condemns You
13 hours ago
1 comment:
I'm confused about "Love does not act unbecomingly" - because real love can show up in the darkest of corners when you least expect it.
Thank you for commenting on my blog today. I think I lost a lot of readers from what I revealed - but it's part of the truth of the picture. It feels both humbling and humiliating to share.
I feel very humbled - especially for the last couple months, but for a long time, but angered about things that feel wrong, too, and I suppose anger usually has to do with ego.
When I look around me, and see the safe space I have, and my medicines, and my cat, I know that I have been given incredible grace.
But it doesn't feel spiritual. It has before in my life (even in more unbecoming parts of my life), but it hasn't in a long, long time.
But thanks for the grace of your interaction.
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