The other night, I was eating strawberries from a plate with strawberries painted on it. It was kinda funny, because I was watching a movie and grabbing my snacks as I was looking at the TV. Out of the corner of my eye, I almost went to grab what I thought was the last berry when I realized it was painted onto the plate :)
Beware of things that look like reality. It's actually not that easy to discern. Rules and laws can tell us what NOT to do. But doing right is not simply doing the opposite of what we know is bad. There is actually no possible way to live in true righteousness without a miraculous move of God in your heart! I didn't know this before. I used to go from bondage to bondage, because I just figured that if I knew what was good, I would just do it.
But here is why it doesn't work like that.
"Goodness" is an exclusively divine attribute. When we intentionally broke away from God's rule in the Garden of Eden, we opened ourselves to the rule of a lying enemy, Satan. By God's goodness (realize this, it was His GOOD-ness), God blocked us from being able to do good on our own. If He hadn't, we would have believed the lie that we were just fine without intimacy with God, even though we were not. You know those romantic movies where the love interest finds out that the other person is only dating them because of a bet or something else false? The reason that is so devastating is that romantic relationships are about, well, love! To go about a relationship with no idea that the other person doesn't care about you (especially when you have manipulated them into being with you) is fruitless and will never be what you want it to be. In the same way, if we go about life just trying to be good with no idea that we are not actually walking with the God who loves us, we will end up in Hell without Him forever. Because He loves us so much, He made sure we would never access the peace and joy that only comes from being in love with Him on our own strength! When we felt our emptiness, we would be compelled to seek Him! Isn't that beautiful?
So to merely try to be better is not going to work. God longs to be with you and to do life with you. He wants to survive your problems together with you and give you joy in your victories. He is the source of life, love, and everything good in you! When you take your brokenness and sin to Him, realizing you don't have to hide because He is not angry, something powerful happens in you! You get healed. The sin that was impossible to come away from suddenly becomes something you don't want and can easily step away from. You'll sometimes even feel something inside of you lift! It's pretty awesome! Walking in healing may take time, but the minute God touches your brokenness, it's as good as something becoming obsolete!
Things that are good, therefore, will take on the very characteristics of God. There are people, churches, ministries, and all sorts of things that sound really good. And many are, which we need! We definitely honor those who are wise because they give us God's wisdom. Just not by putting them on a pedestal in which they can do no wrong. If you have a relationship with God, you have the same spirit in you. And if you don't know Him yet, He is still right there ready to guide you. Just ask Him what or who you can trust. He wants to protect you and will gladly help you. But don't ever silence what God has clearly shown you just because someone with a good reputation contradicts it. Always check it out first using the Bible.
So let Him always show you what is real. You don't have to be cynical or judgmental of others, but just be wise. You can accept a person without accepting their teaching. As you grow to know Him, He will put more and more discernment in you. We can work alongside each other in God's kingdom, and we will each have something to offer because none of us can play the same part. Then, speaking the truth IN LOVE to each other (even to pedestal-standing leaders if necessary), we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. Amen.
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