you are what you...are
How do people define others? I think it's by what we do (which unfortunately encompasses how we look). Our most common inquiry of new acquaintances is, "what do you do?" Our most frequent question to friends is, "What have you been up to? What have you been doing?"
Our culture puts so much stress on what we acquire, what we show off, and where we do those things, that it's now our standard for identity. How many times have you thought something similar to this while driving: "Ok, Mr. Toyota, get off my bumper," or given your friends nicknames according to their jobs: "Mr. Barista."
Oh. Maybe that's just me.
This propensity to strive to do what validates us in the eyes of others inevitably leaches into the way we conduct our private world, especially in our relationship with God. It's what makes us start to believe that we can earn His love. It's what makes us try even when we know in our heads that's not the way it works.
Just be. Doing will follow. What you do is not your identity, but the proof and result of it. When you love God others in your heart, it will show in your actions. Just being a good person doesn't make your heart good.
So think about it: what are your motivations for doing something?
Our culture puts so much stress on what we acquire, what we show off, and where we do those things, that it's now our standard for identity. How many times have you thought something similar to this while driving: "Ok, Mr. Toyota, get off my bumper," or given your friends nicknames according to their jobs: "Mr. Barista."
Oh. Maybe that's just me.
This propensity to strive to do what validates us in the eyes of others inevitably leaches into the way we conduct our private world, especially in our relationship with God. It's what makes us start to believe that we can earn His love. It's what makes us try even when we know in our heads that's not the way it works.
Just be. Doing will follow. What you do is not your identity, but the proof and result of it. When you love God others in your heart, it will show in your actions. Just being a good person doesn't make your heart good.
So think about it: what are your motivations for doing something?