June 27 - Self-examine
Scripture focus: The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash-along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant-dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ-God's righteousness. Philippians 3:7-9 (The Message)
I chuckled to myself this week when someone described one of their "old" using behaviors as if it had been eradicated by their sobriety. I wasn't feeling malicious or critical. In fact, I was bursting with empathy. As my friend reported her "new improved" ways, I had plenty of firsthand experience that her "old" behavior was still present, albeit done while perfectly sober, and she simply was unconscious of herself.
I chuckle because I can relate.
So if you, like my friend and I, are tempted to believe that you're actually keeping a list of rules that somehow qualify you for feeling righteous, you might want to pause and reconsider.
There is no way you and I can actually perform our way out of needing to trust God.
Recommended reading: 1 Corinthians 11-13
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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community
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1 comment:
I do self examine somedays maybe too much and others not enough. I find for me the more I come to trust and believe the more I have to self examine. When Elvis died I passed on all the jokes and even tried to create some,while living his same type lifestyle. I did not have his money or fame or talent, but I could use and was getting better at it everyday. I know today if not for God's grace I too could have died alone in a bathroom. I go here because all day yesterday I heard folks telling all the Michael Jackson jokes and something was different, I was sad. I am still examining the sadness, was I sad for Michael, was I sad for the joke tellers, or was I feeling the shame for past behavior.I am one of the most unedited people you would meet, God and I are working on a filter.I must admit there was a selfish joy as well, that I found a bottom. I had folks who dug my hole deeper by helping, but they ran out of shovels.I found myself doing the same thing for a child and by the time I ran out of shovels, I did not recognize my child anymore. It could be possible that there were to many shovels in Michaels life. I do not know if we will ever know what Michaels demons were, we all saw the outward behavior they created. I pray that he finds peace as his demons have benn laid to rest. I think the sadness could be that one of God's children never found the community that had the tools to save his life. I send a hug to my community for saving my life, God Bless
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