Pride and Comparison

Here's a Problem

We are engulfed in a culture that highly values winning, and where second place is the same as losing. Our talents and gifts are measured in comparison to those of others. We are told to be the best, and settle for nothing less. The problem is that we cannot all be the best; for each first place winner, there are numerous others who do not measure up. C.S. Lewis once said that " “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man." I spent my whole high school career trying to be the best, and landing somewhere slightly above average. And you know what, I was REALLY bitter about this. I just couldn't win, and until I did, I had nothing to be thankful for.  I don't think that I need to say this, but thinking like this is NOT OKAY. We are not called to proclaim ourselves on this Earth, we are called to glorify God.

Unfortunately, this mindset of "taking first place" transfers into our Christian lives and service. Someone walks in with our similar strengths and gifts, and suddenly "there is not enough room for the two of us," so we try to think of ways to outserve them. "Oh yeah, you work with kids? I remember the time when I watched 9 kids under the age of 5 at once in a 10 by 10 non-child proof bedroom." I wish I could say that I haven't used that line before, but that is exactly why I wanted to write about this. I struggle with this and I don't think that I am the only one. And actually, I know I'm not, because the bible talks about this A LOT.


"So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Matthew 20:16

"Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus," Philippians 2:4-5, ALSO look at Philippians 2:1-11

Many other places too- you should just read the whole thing. 

Here's a Solution

Stop looking at "me" and start looking at Jesus. We were not put on this Earth to succeed, and this is going to sound crazy, but the "pursuit of happiness" is an American idea and not a God-given right. We keep looking for our identity in Earthly success and happiness, but it's just like building a house on sand. As Christians, our identity is not found in or around us, it is found above us, in Jesus.

 "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God, when Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." Colossians 3:3-4

And then! Realize that we are given gifts for the purpose of serving one another. "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1 Peter 4:10

Here are a few things that it does not say:

•  "employ it in impressing one another"
•  "employ it in being better than one another"

 Nor is it followed with:

• "so that everyone will know what a good Christian you are."
•  "as good stewards of your awesome gift which is clearly better than other peoples'."

God gives us strengths so that we can point people back to Him! Plain and simple, gifts are not there for the glory of "me," but instead for the glory of "HE."

Side Note: I think that many times, instead of being encouraged by hearing of the spiritual growth or giftings of others, we immediately start to line ourselves up with it. For instance,  the self condemning "Ooh, I suck because I don't think like that" or the self righteous "I learned that lesson a year ago, I'm a step ahead of you there."  This also needs to stop. We should probably just stick with trying to be like Jesus. And then, when we hear of our friend's growth, God can use that in our lives, not as a litmus test of our faith, but as a new perspective, or a way to see Him work in a different way. Let's leave conviction and encouragement to Him. 

Side Note Anecdote: (it rhymes) Once, I heard someone talking about receiving lots of good gifts from God. Here is what should have gone through my head. "Yeah! God does give good gifts!"

Here is what actually went through my head. "So that's who is getting all the gifts!"

Oh my...

Memorizing Scripture

I have heard many people say that they don't memorize scripture because they are not good at memorizing. It is a serious misconception that memorizing is only for those to whom it comes easily. Just like anything else, it is not by our own power that we can memorize large portions of scripture, but because God enables us to do so.  

Here are some reasons why you NEED to be memorizing:

1) God's word works mightily in us!

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth ; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.- Isaiah 55:11

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.- Hebrews 4:12

2) We need the word of God in our hearts to walk in His ways.  

 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.- Psalm 119:11

Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope.This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.- Psalm 119:49-50

3) It is a critical part of our sanctification (the process in which we are made more like Jesus on this earth)

 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God- Colossians 1:9-10

...and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him- Colossians 3:10

Preparing to Memorize

Start with prayer! We cannot do anything worthwhile without the help of God, but we can do anything through Christ who strengthens us! (Phil. 4:13) It is really important to know WHAT you are memorizing before you memorize it.  If you try to memorize something without really understanding it, it will just be like memorizing a list of words on a page. You will forget it as quickly as you began.  Spend time studying the passage and making observations, understand the context and purpose of the text. You will find that when you really know a passage well, it will be quite easy to memorize, because you know where it is going. 

Memorizing

There are different ways to memorize a text. The ones that I have tried are: memorizing a verse or two a day until it is all done and memorizing a it a paragraph at a time.  I have found that it is much easier to memorize in big chunks.  This is because you see the big picture and big idea. When I am memorizing just one verse a day,  I have found that the passage becomes disjointed in my mind and I have a hard time remembering what comes next.  But when I memorize a whole paragraph, I see it as a whole, and not only am I able to remember it better,  I also have a better understanding of the purpose of the text.  

Here are some tips about memorizing a paragraph at one time:

-Read through the passage several times

-Write out the passage

-Look for themes

-Look for repeated terms or organizational styles and then list them out.

        Example: (from Colossians 2:8)

              See to it that no one takes you captive through 

                                                                        philosophy and 

                                                                        empty deception,

                      according to the tradition of men,

                      according to the elementary principles of the world,

     rather than according to Christ.

 -Draw a picture depicting a verse or portion of the text. 

-Make observations. 

           Example: 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and not that of yourselves, it is the gift of God," Eph. 2:8

                     Observations:

                       1) by grace you have been saved

                       2) saved through faith

                       3) grace and faith are gifts from God

-After you do all of these things, you will find that you know a lot of the passage already. Now you can go back and fill in the blanks and repeat the passage over in writing or out loud.

Application

There really is no reason to memorize scripture if you don't recall it and apply it to your life. 

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:23-24

Come up with a game plan of how you can apply your memory verses to your life!

Philippians 2:1-11 is a great place to start when memorizing chunks of scripture. Memorizing this passage was a big life changer for me. It really transformed how I viewed others and increased my love for Christ and His sacrifice.

How NOT to memorize a chapter or book of the bible: 

My sophomore year, I had the unfortunate, but educational experience of epically failing at memorizing a book of the bible.  Here is what I did wrong.

- I got really legalistic about it. 

      -I had to get up every morning and memorize 2 verses before class, and if I didn't do it well I would I would beat myself up about it all day long.

      - By the end of chapter 2, I would get so burdened by this responsibility that I wouldn't even want to try to recall what I had memorized throughout the day.

      -This was all I did in my quiet time. I had no break from it. 

      -I based my relationship with God on whether or not I was caught up in memorizing or not. If I wasn't, I just assumed that God wanted nothing to do with me until I finished. 

So, I think I got to like chapter 3, maybe, but I definitely did not finish. So when you are memorizing a long portion of scripture, chill, relax, because getting behind is not the end of the world. 

This time around I have been memorizing a shorter book, 4 chapters instead of 6, and I have changed up the way I memorize to keep it exciting. Also, I memorize throughout the day, in class and at work, and spend most of my quiet time in prayer and other parts of the bible. And I don't freak out if I mess up. So, I am almost done with this book, and it has gone really well since it has not been a burden for me. 

I hope this helps you to memorize better! :)

     

The Problem of Conditional Sacrifice

When I was 15 years old, I watched an episode of Oprah where she told a story of how she had sacrificed something really important to her and then immediately received that very thing.  So in all my 10th grade wisdom, I decided that I should sacrifice something that I really wanted, since I figured God wouldn't give it to me until I gave it to Him. So I decided to stop thinking about boys.  I was fairly successful in this and I believe some good did come out of it, but the concept was ALL WRONG.  Thankfully, God did not give me a boyfriend as a "reward" for my "sacrifice."  The problem was that I gave something to God with the condition that he would give it back to me.  Now I think this kind of thinking is one of our most unspoken troubles as Christians.  We have seen all of these people who were content and got something that we want, and we think, "If I can just be content enough then I will get [insert wanted thing here]."  So we work really hard at acting like we are content in God and then even trying to convince God that we are content in him, in hopes of receiving that thing we have been hoping for. Sometimes we even pretend that we don't want these things to add an extra incentive for God to give them.

THE PROBLEM: Looking at an infinite God as a means to finite gifts. Seriously??? Are we really doing this?? We look at our wonderful and glorious God who has created the world and who offers us Himself and all we can think about is the things that He can give us in this world.

We look at a verse like this: (Matthew 6:33)

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness 

and then all of these things will be added to you.

 When we should be looking at it like this:

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness 

and then all of these things will be added to you.

This verse is followed by: So do not worry about tomorrow ; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. We are called not to worry about tomorrow and our needs, instead we should be seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.  So this means that our motivation should not be receiving what we want, we really shouldn't even be thinking much about that.  Our concern should be with seeking God well, the rest is more of an afterthought.  Because honestly, when we are spending the 99.99999% of our existence with Jesus, those things that we " just had to have" are going to be dust. What is going to matter is the crowns that we have to throw at His feet and praise Him with! That is what we are going to care about! Our reward in heaven comes from seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. And I don't know about you, but I think that when I am in heaven and all I care about is Jesus, I will want the best seat that I can get! 

The Reality of Sacrifice and Contentment: I think that something very important to remember when we are seeking to live lives of contentment and sacrifice is that: The young lions do lack and suffer hunger ; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing. (Psalm 34:10) So right now, we have everything that is good and needed for this moment. We might not have what we need 5 years, months, days, or minutes from now. But what we have in this very moment, is enough.  

Secondly, giving up our needs to God and being content in our situation is a daily pursuit.  My room could get really messy and so I finally get fed up and clean it. Well, it is not going to stay clean on its own, is it? It takes daily upkeep. We can have a big moment with God where we decide that He is more than enough and we want to give up everything to Him. But we have to continue to reinforce this later that day, and then the next day, and the day after that. 


Thirdly, giving something to God rarely changes our preferences in the situation.  I can think of one time that I gave something up and received it almost immediately.  It happened a couple of summers ago on a ten hour plane ride.  I was in a part time program at A&M and I had applied for full admittance. I didn't know whether I had been accepted because I had spent the last few weeks overseas.  Well, as I was on this plane, I gave it to God basically with the attitude that- If I don't get in, it's not going to be easy, but I trust that all Your ways are still good.  I met my parents at the airport and immediately found out that I had gotten in.  Now, this does not mean that if I would have been rejected that it wouldn't have, excuse my language, sucked at the time.  BUT, the overall outcome would have been good because it was from God.  

God desires our honesty:  
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will you give you the desires of your heart."  If we are delighting ourselves in God, we can trust that He puts desires on our hearts.  And if we have a desire that is in line with scripture and where God is leading our lives, then He has put it there for a reason.  That reason may or may not be to fulfill the desire, but God has just as much of a purpose for unfulfilled desires.  Instead of taking measures on our own to fulfill this desire, just tell God.  He already knows; He is not surprised.  He may wish to fulfill this desire if we only ask Him. "You have not because you ask not." James 4:2b  And you know what, when we go to God and humbly ask Him, we are putting our needs into His hands. And sometimes, we may have a perfectly good desire and we take it to God and he says no.  David did.  He wanted to build God a temple, but God said no.  He commended Him on His idea which was pleasing to God, but it was God's will for Solomon to build the temple.  And you know what David didn't do? He didn't go in his room and pout or indulge thoughts of bitterness, HE PRAISED GOD! And you know why? Because even though God didn't allow David to do that, He promised to establish David's house forever, and ultimately the King Jesus would come from the line of David. When we seek to please Him with our desires then He gives us what is best, even if it is not what we had originally wanted.  We have gotten it into our heads that God wants to take from us everything we want and give us everything we don't want.  Now, I do not believe our loving and caring God treats us spitefully. Nor will he be fooled if we pretend with Him.

And Remember: As great as our desires might seem to be right now, when we come to the end of our lives, only Jesus will remain.  And if our lives come crashing down, JESUS STILL STANDS.  We have nothing to fear.

Blessed Assurance: Part Four- Filled with His goodness

Filled with His goodness 
As I was contemplating this line today, I realized that if we want be filled with His goodness, we have to empty ourselves of other things.  If we are filled with something that does not mesh with Christ, then we are not going to fully experience the peace and joy that comes with His goodness. There are two major things that inhibit us from this. (Notice I say inhibit us, not inhibit Christ.)  One is sin, specifically habitual sin, and then guilt from that.  The second is anxiety, which is also a sin, but one so consuming that I have given it it's own category.  Both of these things prevent us from being as near to Him as we need and as He desires. Before we go on though, we must understand that Christ died for us, nailing our sins to the cross, and then He rose again defeating sin and death (Colossians 2:13-15). When we accept Him, we are eternally secure, and no sin will keep us from heaven (Ephesians 1:13-14).  But, sin can get in the way of our fellowship with Him on this earth (1 John 1:5-7).
And now, here is how we empty ourselves of the bad, in order to receive the good.

1) Concerning habitual sin: Tell someone trustworthy who will keep you accountable. And then run. Get out of there. 1 Corinthians 10:13
2) Confession: Tell the Lord and ask for His forgiveness. He is faithful to forgive. 1 John 1:9; Hebrews 4:14-16
3) Cast your cares on the Lord: If we do not remember to consistently cast all of our cares upon the Lord, we end up bogged down by 83,449 different weights. Our minds will be so filled with our worries, we will have no room left for Christ. Philippians 4:6-8; 1 Peter 5:6-7

OKAY, well now that we are past the gross stuff, we can move on to the good stuff. Specifically, being filled with His goodness.

Here is how we are very literally always filled with His goodness. (No matter what!).  The Holy Spirit of God who is complete in goodness, lives in us and helps us all the time!

"If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:26-28

Now, in another sense, how do we experience His goodness?  The answer is through praise.  When we praise God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do, we are delighting in His character and His goodness.  It will fill our hearts and minds, directing them towards Him.  When our thoughts are centered around the goodness of Christ, then our affections will be too.  And I promise you, there is no one more deserving of our affections than Jesus Christ.

Who He is:

• "Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God,compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and truth; who keeps steadfast love for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished..." Exodus 34:6-7a
• "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8
• "And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."' Isaiah 6:3
• "O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8
• "You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11

What He has done:

• "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Genesis 2:7
• "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
• "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him." Psalm 103:10-13
• "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried ; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities ; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5

What He will do: 

• "[T]he day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:2
• "...in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Romans 8:20b-21
• "and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes ; and there will no longer be any death ; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain ; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son." Revelation 21:4-7

Blessed Assurance: Part Three- Looking above

watching and waiting, looking above

Are we living lives in constant anticipation of the return of Christ?  If I am being honest, the return of Christ is not always number one on the "things I am looking forward to" list.  More often than not, my thoughts are spent in anticipation of what I am going to be doing next semester or in ten years.  I am looking to earthly things, when there is so much more in store.  I think a big part of it is ignorance on my part.  I generally have trouble getting really excited for something that I do not fully understand.  When I go overseas, I don't get excited until I am there, because I just have no idea what to expect.  But the return of Christ is infinitely greater than going overseas for a summer, and we are called to anticipate it.  The bible also gives us reasons to anticipate it.  This is something that I know I could do well to learn more about.

Romans 8:18-25 tells us of the "anxious longing" of the earth for all that comes with the return of Christ, as well as the glory that is going to be beheld.
Revelation 19:11 tells of the return of the Jesus, "Faithful and True," to judge all in righteousness.
Revelation 21 gives us a play by play of the coming of the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem.  I admit, I do not have a profound understanding of everything in this passage, but here are some wonderful things that will be happening at this time:
-God will dwell among people                            
-Every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more death
-God will make all things new

Our ultimate hope and joy is in the return of Christ. We should look forward to that day with zeal.  I have heard numerous times that those who live with an eternal perspective have the most lasting impact on the world we live in now.  So let us all look to the return of Christ, "Faithful and True," with excitement.
                          

Blessed Assurance: Part Two- Happy and Blest

I in my Savior am happy and blest
  I think that I could sometimes characterize myself as 'always joyful, never happy'.  I know this sounds pretty ridiculous, but I make a distinction between joy and happiness.  Joy is the constant hope we have in the promises and character of Christ.  Happiness is the enjoyment we have in our current circumstances. I realized recently that though I may be thankful for Christ and the security that I have in Him, I hardly ever allow Him to make me happy. Sure, I let my friends make me happy, or the kids that I take care of, or the music I listen to, even baking makes me happy.  But I never just enjoyed Christ and his every day blessings, receiving happiness from these things also.  I would equate this to a scenario where I get married and let my husband know how very thankful I am for him and how he he was the best option for matrimony and such, but I absolutely never ever smiled or laughed. Besides being super creepy and awkward, I wouldn't make for a very good wife.  Yeah, maybe I would be thankful, but he certainly wouldn't feel enjoyed or delighted in.

Psalm 37:4 tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord! That's God talking! He desires for us to delight in Him!
Philippians 4:4 and Romans 12:12 both tell us to be rejoicing always!
Romans 8:28 says that God causes all things to come together for good for those who seek Him! We are blessed! Let's act like it!

God's ultimate purpose is to bring praise and worship to HIS name. That is what we are here for.  I think that Joy and Thanksgiving are absolutely crucial in this.  And though circumstantial happiness is not as necessary, it is still important.  Let's take a minute to smile while we think of Jesus, or find other ways to give Him affection in our day to day lives.  Maybe you already do this, and that is wonderful!  Affection is not my strong suit so I am still learning! But I am excited! God blesses us all the time, so let's live it up!

One more thing, happiness is circumstantial and fleeting so it will not always come naturally and sometimes we will lose it.  God's ultimate goal is not for us to live happy lives; it is for us to strive after Him in worship.  But many times, worship and happiness come hand in hand.  There are other times that we are upset and we just need to go to God and share that with Him.  But here is something many people don't know about feelings, and happiness is certainly a feeling.  We do have some control over them.  Our emotions are going to come from our thoughts and what we are dwelling on.  We have the ability to stir up emotions in ourselves by thinking of Christ. When we dwell on Him in praise even when we don't feel like it, our emotions will eventually catch up.

Blessed Assurance: Part One- Submission

I find few things more fascinating than the forgotten verses of old hymns.  It is like finding a treasure in the attic.  Hymns are wonderful because they are filled with scripture and they carry deep theological meaning.  Many hymns were also written in the face of great adversity, making them even more valuable. (James 1:2-4)

I recently stumbled upon the third verse of the hymn, Blessed Assurance, and it blew my mind.
"Perfect submission- all is at rest,
I in my savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting,
looking above,
filled with His goodness,
lost in His love."

What a wonderful picture of what our life should look like in Christ! Don't you want these lines to characterize your walk with Christ? Oh boy, I know I sure do! Let's walk through this side by side with God's word to find out how to attain this.

Perfect submission- all is at rest. 
  From my understanding of this line, all is at rest is a result of perfect submission.  So when we submit our lives to God, our hearts will be at rest. How absolutely wonderful!

-Matthew 6:25-34 tells us to refuse worry because God will provide for us. When we trust Him with our needs, we are submitting.
-Philippians 4:6-7 again says "be anxious for nothing!" We are commanded to hand it over to God with thanksgiving.  It is then, that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ.
-1 Peter 5:1-2 tells us to humble ourselves before God and to cast our cares on Him. Giving over our cares to the Lord is certainly an act of humility and submission.

So when we joyfully submit our lives to the Lord and let Him take over, all will be at rest.