16 October 2011
In life, we expect fair play. That is the ideal.
“All’s fair in love and war” – so people who break all fairness rules say. We can cry foul and get all upset but life is not as fair as we think it should be. That is the reality.
Do we throw away our idealism in the face of realism? Must the ideals of perfection be abandoned? Should we settle for less?
“Life is not fair. Just grow up!” So the world tells us.
But if growing up means giving up on the ideal, let me stay with Peter Pan! If growing up means giving in to something that is not right – banish me to Neverland!
Grow up – we must, but not by the world’s definition.
As Christians, we are to “grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Eph 4:15)
If spiritual growth means becoming like Christ, then how Christ handled life’s disappointments ought to be ours as well. Christ accepted life’s mess but did not settle for it. He gave Himself to reconcile an imperfect world with a perfect God. He did so by enduring the cross, persevering through sufferings and staying on the course of truth and love.
Thus, one of the signs of spiritual maturity is the ability to accept things as it is without becoming cynical or discouraged. It is the persistency to not give up on our beliefs while seeing life played out on warped values.
So keep believing. Keep growing. Keep working. Life is not fair. But God is. People are flawed. So are we. What it is is not what it should be. We are not yet what we could be.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Love and pain
Read Jeremiah 28
Jeremiah 8:21-22
Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?
When was the last time you cried for someone? Was there a time when you pleaded to God for mercy for the sake of someone you love? Was there ever a time when you felt as if you were going to die because someone you treasured dearly was heading stubbornly in the wrong direction?
Jeremiah was dubbed the ‘weeping prophet’ for a reason. He was a man who saw everything crystal clear but remained helpless to help his people. Judah was heading towards disaster but they were blinded to it. Jeremiah preached, screamed, cried and like a mad man begging for his people to repent but they would not.
Repentance is a prerequisite for salvation. Salvation is free in that we cannot earn it. However, salvation is ours only when we recognise that we need it. We realize we need it only when we discover that we are wrong. Just like the sick who cannot acknowledge the need of doctor unless he realizes he is sick; so the sinner cannot fathom his need of a Savior until he admits that he is wrong in his sins. That is the sad plight of Judah – their blindness to their real situation and stubborn pride to go on with their godless lies and lifestyle despite of Jeremiah’s ardent pleas out of genuine love for them.
For all who seek to walk with God in integrity and mature in service, there will come a time when we know our loved ones are going down the paths of destruction in the light of God’s truth and we cannot do anything about it.
Part of spiritual maturity and real love is that of letting go. Just as the father releases his protective hands to let the prodigal son go, we have to open our hands to let our loved ones go. We let go because love must mean the respect of the other person’s choice – even if we can see the inevitable disaster of his choice.
Love means the risk of allowing your heart to be broken. But love anyway.
Jeremiah 8:21-22
Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?
When was the last time you cried for someone? Was there a time when you pleaded to God for mercy for the sake of someone you love? Was there ever a time when you felt as if you were going to die because someone you treasured dearly was heading stubbornly in the wrong direction?
Jeremiah was dubbed the ‘weeping prophet’ for a reason. He was a man who saw everything crystal clear but remained helpless to help his people. Judah was heading towards disaster but they were blinded to it. Jeremiah preached, screamed, cried and like a mad man begging for his people to repent but they would not.
Repentance is a prerequisite for salvation. Salvation is free in that we cannot earn it. However, salvation is ours only when we recognise that we need it. We realize we need it only when we discover that we are wrong. Just like the sick who cannot acknowledge the need of doctor unless he realizes he is sick; so the sinner cannot fathom his need of a Savior until he admits that he is wrong in his sins. That is the sad plight of Judah – their blindness to their real situation and stubborn pride to go on with their godless lies and lifestyle despite of Jeremiah’s ardent pleas out of genuine love for them.
For all who seek to walk with God in integrity and mature in service, there will come a time when we know our loved ones are going down the paths of destruction in the light of God’s truth and we cannot do anything about it.
Part of spiritual maturity and real love is that of letting go. Just as the father releases his protective hands to let the prodigal son go, we have to open our hands to let our loved ones go. We let go because love must mean the respect of the other person’s choice – even if we can see the inevitable disaster of his choice.
Love means the risk of allowing your heart to be broken. But love anyway.
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