progress
I think the Holy Spirit and the fear of God in us christians make sure that for the very most of the time we achieve the minimum of what God wants to see in us. We are saved. But I know I should do more. Well, not so much "do" more but "be" more. When I "am" peacable and believing and loving and hoping I can also "do" a lot. But when I "am" neither of this, my actions, even if I do them, have something acidic in them. Nobody can manage this for long without either becoming grumpy, or hurting their souls, or getting an illness or something like that.
Because of this I have also started to look at self denial differently than before. To live in self denial doesn't mean to live without joy and happiness. In fact it seems rather true to me now that to be with Jesus is a joyous thing, and when Jesus tells us to deny ourselves for His sake, this is also so that we would live close to an everlasting fountain of joy. It may be that some people who practice self senial all the time are much happier people than those who always live for themselves. In ourselves we are so limited, but when we put our faith in Jesus we can do impossible things - abundantly caring and serving others and rejoicing in such duties.
Because of this I have also started to look at self denial differently than before. To live in self denial doesn't mean to live without joy and happiness. In fact it seems rather true to me now that to be with Jesus is a joyous thing, and when Jesus tells us to deny ourselves for His sake, this is also so that we would live close to an everlasting fountain of joy. It may be that some people who practice self senial all the time are much happier people than those who always live for themselves. In ourselves we are so limited, but when we put our faith in Jesus we can do impossible things - abundantly caring and serving others and rejoicing in such duties.