"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;"
Philippians 1:9-10
There are some great things here. I like the idea of love abounding in knowledge and judgement. We see so much popular media about love being blind and foolish and unchosen, but the best kind of love is none of those things. It is carefully chosen with full awareness and determination. It's unselfish and uplifting, and it helps everyone it touches. If we model the love that we show for others on the love God has for us, then we are following the right example. God loves us and does what he can for us without removing our responsibility to be our best selves or taking away our freedom or (in most cases) the consequences of our actions. This sometimes seems harsh to us because we don't like responsibility or consequences very much, but true love helps us learn and grow and develop self-control, rather than wrapping us in bubble-wrap and protecting us from ourselves in a way that we would never learn such things. :)
The other thing I especially liked here is the idea of sincerity as being super important, and that made we wonder how often we are sincere, or whether we even think hard enough to know that sometimes. It's so easy to fall into patterns of behavior that are usually polite and respectful, but also sort of fake, and we don't think about what is underneath all that, or even what our own opinions are about some things, because we just say what we need to say to navigate the conversation.
I am of course not saying at all that we should just give up on civilization, get in touch with our inner anger, and go full rage barbarian on everyone around us. More that we need to figure out who we are, what we want, and what we think of things *before* going through the motions of polite society, or covering up our discomfort with humor, or whatever else we are doing to soften reality. :) That will help us know what is really there, and also help us avoid histrionics when people push our buttons by trying to get through the facade. We need learn how to be real with ourselves and with God, and once we have that baseline, we'll be able to be more real with everyone.
Part of sincerity and being real is in prayer. Prayer just plain doesn't work if we just say the things we are supposed to say. Prayer can only connect with God if we are sincerely seeking. God wants to hear what is really in our hearts, as raw and unedited as it may be... and once we let that out, then he'll help us go back and revise and refine and in time turn those hearts from the roughest draft into a work of art... and we'll know who we are and who we *want* to be.
Today, let's work on consciously chosen love and deeply honest sincerity. Maybe staying home will give us a little time for self-reflection. :)
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;"
Philippians 1:9-10
There are some great things here. I like the idea of love abounding in knowledge and judgement. We see so much popular media about love being blind and foolish and unchosen, but the best kind of love is none of those things. It is carefully chosen with full awareness and determination. It's unselfish and uplifting, and it helps everyone it touches. If we model the love that we show for others on the love God has for us, then we are following the right example. God loves us and does what he can for us without removing our responsibility to be our best selves or taking away our freedom or (in most cases) the consequences of our actions. This sometimes seems harsh to us because we don't like responsibility or consequences very much, but true love helps us learn and grow and develop self-control, rather than wrapping us in bubble-wrap and protecting us from ourselves in a way that we would never learn such things. :)
The other thing I especially liked here is the idea of sincerity as being super important, and that made we wonder how often we are sincere, or whether we even think hard enough to know that sometimes. It's so easy to fall into patterns of behavior that are usually polite and respectful, but also sort of fake, and we don't think about what is underneath all that, or even what our own opinions are about some things, because we just say what we need to say to navigate the conversation.
I am of course not saying at all that we should just give up on civilization, get in touch with our inner anger, and go full rage barbarian on everyone around us. More that we need to figure out who we are, what we want, and what we think of things *before* going through the motions of polite society, or covering up our discomfort with humor, or whatever else we are doing to soften reality. :) That will help us know what is really there, and also help us avoid histrionics when people push our buttons by trying to get through the facade. We need learn how to be real with ourselves and with God, and once we have that baseline, we'll be able to be more real with everyone.
Part of sincerity and being real is in prayer. Prayer just plain doesn't work if we just say the things we are supposed to say. Prayer can only connect with God if we are sincerely seeking. God wants to hear what is really in our hearts, as raw and unedited as it may be... and once we let that out, then he'll help us go back and revise and refine and in time turn those hearts from the roughest draft into a work of art... and we'll know who we are and who we *want* to be.
Today, let's work on consciously chosen love and deeply honest sincerity. Maybe staying home will give us a little time for self-reflection. :)
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