Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Desire for Contentment, Wholeness, and Life




Christ is the answer you've been looking for.


A mentor of mine once said that God's commandments are not a prison to keep us trapped in but a high wall to keep evil out. If only people were taught that every choice made brings some form of consequence (good or bad) and that peer pressure, while I'm sure continues in some form throughout someone's life, can lead a person down paths they never thought they would travel with people they know for merely a brief time whom themselves follow the crowd as not to appear different, can be overcome by finding one's identity and purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ.


It is through God alone that people can find the strength to not go along with the crowd. It is through His intervention and work in one's life that people are free to live as whole and healthy human beings that desire to honor Christ above their own gratification and who can more clearly see that we were put on this earth to know our Creator and not to live selfishly for ourselves. Without such knowledge, I am afraid to say that people will continually search for a joy and fulfillment that will never actually satisfy because anything this world has to offer was never meant to satisfy us. It has been said that every person has a God-shaped hole in their heart and that to love and know Him is one's greatest privilege and what makes us most fully content. To be at peace with God is to know true happiness, to be pardoned of all one's sins from the past and to gain the strength and help needed to walk in His ways in the present. His forgiveness is total and though we will never obtain being sinless and will always be tempted, we can (through the regular reading of God's word, studying Christian resources and Apologetic materials to learn how to articulate and share what we believe and why we believe it, seeking Biblical Counsel to deal with issues or sinful patterns in our lives, having accountability partners and godly friends/mentors who speak truth into our lives and help us grow as individuals) become more like Christ as time goes on. He is our example and our lives are to emulate Him. We are to pattern our entire existence around being a proper representative of Jesus and an ambassador for His Kingdom. As Christians, we are to live in full surrender and submission to God's perfect will and the work He desires to do in and through our lives. We are to take His word seriously and attend church weekly as to hear His word taught, participate in public worship, and fellowship with other believers. We are to commit our lives to being used by Him and it would both honor God and do us well to live with the following quote by Betty Scott Stam in mind:


"Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my time, my all, utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever."

0 comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...