Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Day 244 – Month of August at a glance
Scripture focus: It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time:
· Repetitive, loveless, cheap sex
· A stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage
· Frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness
· Trinket gods
· Magic-show religion
· Paranoid loneliness
· Cutthroat competition
· All-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants
· A brutal temper
· An impotence to love or be loved
· Divided homes and divided lives
· Small-minded and lopsided pursuits
· The vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival
· Uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions
· Ugly parodies of community
· I could go on. Galatians 5:19-21 The Message
We spent the month of August talking about, among other things, a life filled with the passion for self. The next verse proves filled with warning: This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. Galatians 5:21(b) The Message
· Repetitive, loveless, cheap sex
· A stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage
· Frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness
· Trinket gods
· Magic-show religion
· Paranoid loneliness
· Cutthroat competition
· All-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants
· A brutal temper
· An impotence to love or be loved
· Divided homes and divided lives
· Small-minded and lopsided pursuits
· The vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival
· Uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions
· Ugly parodies of community
· I could go on. Galatians 5:19-21 The Message
We spent the month of August talking about, among other things, a life filled with the passion for self. The next verse proves filled with warning: This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. Galatians 5:21(b) The Message
I can’t leave us like this – mired in the muck of self-focused living and its inevitable disappointments. Listen as Paul continues…But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Galatians 5:22,23 The Message
More on the good life next month!
Recommended reading: Job 337-39 in the morning; In the evening 1 Corinthians 3, 4
1 comment:
All I can say is thank goodness that the Galatians verse doesn't stop at you will not inherit God's kingdom. . . thank goodness there's another side to it! And of course God is going to show that to us. Why? Because we are his babies! And He loves us dearly. In fact I guess he has even more passion for us than we have for ourselves! :o)
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