Conversations

Papa and Kieran like to have "man-to-man" talks.

Kieran gets excited when he gets to see Mama. And, let's face it, Mama turns into a total cheeseball. :D

If We With Ink the Ocean Fill

Sometimes, you can talk to people, but never really with people. 

Today, I was conversing with someone who came into my workplace that I see on a fairly regular basis. Last time I talked with him, he had given me some advice on HDMI cables, and today he was asking me if I had followed up on it (which I still need to). Well, in the course of our conversation, he mentioned his children, and I asked him how many kids he had. He told me about his three children, two of whom were six-month-old twin boys. One of the brothers had been born with a rare form of dwarfism that had resulted from a genetic mutation. He is still in the hospital because his trachea did not form correctly, and he still cannot breathe on his own.

It made me realize that we can think that we know people or have a read on them, and not have a clue about what is going on in their lives. How can we pass judgment on others when we cannot see into their homes or their hearts? John 15:12 says, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." We are commanded to love people even when they don't seem lovable...and even when we don't feel very loving. We are commanded to love with the love of Christ:  "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). 

Lay down his life. What does that mean? I think, in some cases, we might be called to physically lay down our life for someone--a husband, a wife, a child, or even a stranger. But since that doesn't seem to be required from most of us, how can this still be applied to our lives? We can lay down our pride. We can lay down our rights. We can lay down our desires.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! 

I know that this passage from Philippians is kind of known as "the humility chapter", and many of you might say, "Yeah, yeah, I've heard this before...." But I know that I will never have it down. I can always be more loving, more unselfish, and a better reflection of Christ. And I need to pray that God would open my eyes to those who need His love and that I can learn to love like Christ.

A Righteous Conversation

Today I had an interesting conversation with someone who came into my workplace. Unfortunately, work kept the conversation from going too deep (blast you, work!). He had a book with him about Judaism, so I asked him about it. As it turned out, he attends a "Christian" college in Kansas City (I say "Christian" because I have no idea what that means to him). He told me that he is reading the book because he not only finds Jewish culture interesting, but he is intrigued by their views of righteousness. 

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, how do you really know you're righteous?" He replied. "Lots of people say, 'Oh, I believe in Jesus!', but what then? I prayed for 15 minutes today, but I prayed for 30 minutes yesterday, so I must not be as righteous today as I was yesterday. I read my Bible for one hour today, but was that enough?"

I then went on to say to him that Jesus told us that what He really desires is a transformation of our hearts and minds. That the Pharisees had gotten stuck on their own righteousness and allowed their hearts to grow corrupt, and Jesus had called them out on it.

I really wish that we had had more time to talk. I would have told him what Jesus said, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:29-30). And Paul said, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). When we meditate on what Christ has done for us on the cross and allow His grace to overwhelm us, we can (as we learn about and grow closer to Him through His Word) see God and see ourselves clearly. We can see that through His death, we were freed from sin and its penalties. We are no longer slaves to sin! This means that we are no longer slaves to a righteousness we could never attain!

I'll say that again.

We are no longer slaves to a righteousness we could never attain.

Hallelujah! Romans 6 is an awesome passage for this. It actually says that, as Christians, we do become slaves to righteousness...not to obedience, but slaves to God leading to the fruit of sanctification, i.e. righteousness. What is really amazing about this is that it is not an outward show of goodness, but an inward transformation. God can mold us into "little Christs"--the real meaning of the word "Christian". And as we become more like His Son, we see more of our loving Father; as our hearts begin to desire what His desires, we see more of His purpose and plan; and as our lives reflect Him and our lives align with His will, we begin to see fruit in our lives and a joy that comes from true contentment in being and doing exactly what we were created for--glorifying God by being satisfied in Him. 

Wow.

Well, maybe I'll just print this out and put it in my pocket in case I ever run into this person again. :) Or, maybe I should just pray.

God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it.... He that testifies his idea of God's glory [does not] glorify God so much as he testifies also his approbation of it and his delight in it. --Jonathan Edwards