"That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." Philemon 1:6
What does my faith say about me? What do others say about my faith? How does my faith speak in the world around me?
Modern Christianity is all about the latter part of this verse..." the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you.." this is the new gospel of our age. "There is innate goodness in each of us", we are told to recite positive affirmations to ourselves in the mirror each morning etc..this is the mantra of the new age faith being taught, and while I am not averse to being positive or being cognizant that there are good qualities in each of us we must not neglect or edit what wisdom this verse is trying to impart. This is a society of editing we are living in right now don't you think? The world is editing history to fit its agenda and narritive, people edit their profiles to reflect their best selves even if it isn't remotely truthful, even we as christians can be faulted to doing so in our faith or our interpretation of God's word. The truth is God, in His infinite wisdom and His unfailing kindness is a God of order and clarity. He doesn't like to keep us in the dark so He decides to illuminate His meaning in the next part of the verse. Notice the last part..."which is in you in Christ Jesus." There's the key! If there be any good thing in me it is because of Christ! It's because of who I am in Him, as His child! His mercy, His grace and goodness give me life, breadth and depth in my faith. His love makes my service, my gifts and talents possible. His forgiveness gives me hope, the strength to rise up after a defeating day and the courage to press on. His joy enables me to be a light in the darkness. In my own strength I fail, I fall, I have to fight so hard to struggle on.. but when I'm resting in him, when I'm enrobed by His word, when we are conversing, Father and child, there is a blissful ease that comes safe in the knowledge that I don't have to produce all the fruits of the spirit of my own volition. (Gal.5:22-23) When I surrender to Christ, submit my stubborn heart, when I hold tightly to His hand, when I devour his words and delight in all He is... there, there is the place where I find the good things within me. He put them there!....Like a cleverly curated gallery of beautiful treasures... Psalm 45:13 says," The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold." Her beauty started from the inside then spread out from there... If I am kind, if I have patience, if I can serve or be of help to others, if I can encourage or comfort, if I have any wisdom, any grace and goodness it is not my own. The seeds were all planted by Christ, they were carefully tended and cared for, watered and weeded by people Christ placed in my life. Preachers, teachers, a prayer filled mother, Christ-like men and women I watched and learned from as I saw them walk in thier faith, secular job's, trials, conflict, grief… these were all faithful ministers, careful partakers in fashioning me according to His will. I can try to take all the credit I want, but the truth is I know who I am. Broken? Sure! Blessed? Absolutely! Bought with a price? I know it! Beloved? Yes! God only knows why He should love me so! So if you happen to see something good in me, may I be the first to acknowledge and proclaim it's all because of Jesus. The sweet love of Jesus has made all the difference in me! Day-by-day, hour by hour, minute by minute I pray others see Christ in me. More of you and less of me Lord! John the Baptist said it so well in John 3:30, " He must increase, but I must decrease."
This plague of human "self-righteousness" and self praise being touted today is vanity, it has no seeming end, but God sees it and knows it is futile and ultimately finite. Look for all the good, the "god" within you you want... apart from Christ but there is no good, no God, no true peace, no joy or satisfaction apart from Him. Laurels and commendations won't sustain, "likes" on your post won't satisfy that heart hunger, and no amount of positive thinking will pull you up when life pushes you down. Truthfully how vain would I be anyways to think that I could create my own peace, my own righteousness, my own goodness, kindness ect?! I've seen things I create, I've tasted things my hands have fashioned, horrible, horrible things!!! Nope... why would I think I could create a caring heart or a character filled spirit?! How foolish would I be to think I could master such a feat? How bold to say to my creator, " it's ok, you gave me life but I've got it from here"...Heavens crumble at the thought! I will leave the fashioning of my faith, the curation of my mind, heart and soul to the masterful hand of my heavenly father. Willingly I place all the broken pieces of my past endeavors to take things into my own hands and leave them in His wise, kind hands. I will rejoice in everything he creates in me and through me. Always keeping in mind all glory is His! May I live, may I speak so all may know it is the unfailing goodness of God that has made all the difference in me! At the end of our days may our faith be spoken of with kindness, integrity, and it's effects be felt by the many lives we have touched. May our faith have hands and feet, and a voice that moves, speaks up about what is true and right, may it help and heal..may the good things imparted to us be invested well into the lives of others. That is a faith worth speaking of and a God worth following and serving.
Here is my prayer for you this week beloveds..."to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:19 In His fullness I pray you find the riches of all his goodness within you and take heart, give freely, live justly, speak truthfully, live graciously and do good... unapologetically let Christ shine in and through all you say and do. Blessings on you❤
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