Christians & the Lie of Giving Too Much
Before Christ (you know, BC. Christian jokes, lol) we live our life as the world does. Some of us are "good", some of us are "bad", and some of us are "just getting by", but either way, we live in a 'works mentality'. A works mentality is the idea that if I do a good thing it puts a coin in the jar, if I do a bad thing it takes a coin out. It also goes on the idea that one action is worth more coins than another, which of course is all based on your society or subgroup. It is all very technical and often very attached to emotion. I would wager it is not an entirely fair system, even with all the checks and balances society has added to make it as close to reasonable as possible. Everyone feels, including judges, juries, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and witnesses. Everyone brings their own particular feelings to the table, which can unfortunately mean life or death for a person.
This is all my attempt at a compelling lead in. A lot of people in my life are getting really caught up in works, which I find odd as we have had a lot of messages in my church about how God's grace works. The reason Jesus dying on the cross is such an intense sacrifice is not just because it happened and should not have. It is not because he went to hell for three days to pay for our sins. It is not because he rose. It is not because he appeared to many people in order to personally reassure them that everything would be ok. It is not because of the holy spirit who is now freely available to all who are saved.
That stuff is all so, so, so important. I cannot stress enough how relevant that all is to the Christian faith and a personal relationship with JC. It is of the utmost and I urge you to get in the word and your prayer journal if you feel you do not understand it. Ask HS for a revelation. Pray more. Seek ye first the kingdom. Do what it takes. But seriously, this is just part of it. The big deal is that we do not deserve it. Not one bit. We are complete scumbags. I mean utter, total and complete, hood rat, dbag, grade A scummers. There is nothing in you or I worth saving. We are completely worthless and useless to God.
That being said He chose you. Do you get how out of control awesome that is? It is ridiculous! The creator of the universe, God almighty, the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, EVERYTHING EVER is your heavenly father and he chose you from the very start. When he created the earth, he made sure that everything would work together for your good. For you to be able to live a healthy life, for you to be able to enjoy beauty, for you to be able to have all that is good and right. He created this all so that you could be happy. That is straight up ridiculous and amazing.
I am pretty sure you do not understand the full magnitude of what I am saying to you. That is absolutely fine. I do not get it half the time. That is part of being only a part, a shadow, a mere imitation of the truest being to ever exist. It is SUCH an honor though. Never in your life will you be honored on this earth the way your heavenly father has honored you by choosing you to be his child. It is the most amazing gift you can ever receive, so I urge you to receive it.
The big part to this though is that we are only a small section of our father in heaven. He created us to be in relationship with everything around us. The earth, the air, the water, the sky, animals, people, him. It is so important that we allow him to work on us and be a part of our lives. BC I was such a wreck in relationship with people. I was angry, I had "issues with people" because "I did not like them and they were stupid". As humans, we have a lot of junk built up over years because hurt people hurt people. Honestly, people hurt people. It is just what a fallen world does.
While it is not our fault because we were born into it, it is our responsibility. The minute we understand how pivotal we are to the world's salvation, meaning the environment and the people in it, is the minute we get why God chose us. He created this beautiful world for us, but he also expected us to be its stewards. We are here to care for his creation, all of it. We need to care about what is in our soil and air, how our fellow human took our harsh words at the coffee shop this morning, about that stray cat we saw last week.
This stuff is all so important. Do not misunderstand your call from God - you are a leader of this world and as such you need to live above reproach. Do your best to be honest and you will make few mistakes and when you do make mistakes, apologize honestly. People respect forthright people who take the high road, even though it will be the hardest thing you ever have to do. It is worth it and it will grow you beyond measure. Reap what God has sown for you. He loves you so much and wants you to thrive in the beautiful wonderland he created for you.
This is all my attempt at a compelling lead in. A lot of people in my life are getting really caught up in works, which I find odd as we have had a lot of messages in my church about how God's grace works. The reason Jesus dying on the cross is such an intense sacrifice is not just because it happened and should not have. It is not because he went to hell for three days to pay for our sins. It is not because he rose. It is not because he appeared to many people in order to personally reassure them that everything would be ok. It is not because of the holy spirit who is now freely available to all who are saved.
That stuff is all so, so, so important. I cannot stress enough how relevant that all is to the Christian faith and a personal relationship with JC. It is of the utmost and I urge you to get in the word and your prayer journal if you feel you do not understand it. Ask HS for a revelation. Pray more. Seek ye first the kingdom. Do what it takes. But seriously, this is just part of it. The big deal is that we do not deserve it. Not one bit. We are complete scumbags. I mean utter, total and complete, hood rat, dbag, grade A scummers. There is nothing in you or I worth saving. We are completely worthless and useless to God.
That being said He chose you. Do you get how out of control awesome that is? It is ridiculous! The creator of the universe, God almighty, the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, EVERYTHING EVER is your heavenly father and he chose you from the very start. When he created the earth, he made sure that everything would work together for your good. For you to be able to live a healthy life, for you to be able to enjoy beauty, for you to be able to have all that is good and right. He created this all so that you could be happy. That is straight up ridiculous and amazing.
I am pretty sure you do not understand the full magnitude of what I am saying to you. That is absolutely fine. I do not get it half the time. That is part of being only a part, a shadow, a mere imitation of the truest being to ever exist. It is SUCH an honor though. Never in your life will you be honored on this earth the way your heavenly father has honored you by choosing you to be his child. It is the most amazing gift you can ever receive, so I urge you to receive it.
The big part to this though is that we are only a small section of our father in heaven. He created us to be in relationship with everything around us. The earth, the air, the water, the sky, animals, people, him. It is so important that we allow him to work on us and be a part of our lives. BC I was such a wreck in relationship with people. I was angry, I had "issues with people" because "I did not like them and they were stupid". As humans, we have a lot of junk built up over years because hurt people hurt people. Honestly, people hurt people. It is just what a fallen world does.
While it is not our fault because we were born into it, it is our responsibility. The minute we understand how pivotal we are to the world's salvation, meaning the environment and the people in it, is the minute we get why God chose us. He created this beautiful world for us, but he also expected us to be its stewards. We are here to care for his creation, all of it. We need to care about what is in our soil and air, how our fellow human took our harsh words at the coffee shop this morning, about that stray cat we saw last week.
This stuff is all so important. Do not misunderstand your call from God - you are a leader of this world and as such you need to live above reproach. Do your best to be honest and you will make few mistakes and when you do make mistakes, apologize honestly. People respect forthright people who take the high road, even though it will be the hardest thing you ever have to do. It is worth it and it will grow you beyond measure. Reap what God has sown for you. He loves you so much and wants you to thrive in the beautiful wonderland he created for you.