People: because He loves us

Relationships. God created us for them and in them. We are created through the relationship of our parents. We are created to be in relationships with other people, with the earth (shelter and food) and with animals (food and clothes). But more than anything we are created to be in relationship with Christ. Purpose. From being in a relationship with Him we learn how to be in relationship with other people, Christian or not. We love because He first loved us. He showed us what love is, excuse me, shows us what love is. Read the Gospel. It is FULL of love. Look for it, it will bring you to tears, or at least a welling up of joy within (for the less sentimental among us).

Relationships. That is the basis of Jesus' ministry. Not was, not will be, is. The story of Creation hints at God's design of relationships. He created Adam to be in relationship with Himself, and it was good. He created Adam also to be in relationship with a suitable mate, and it was good. Notice how this mirrors the greatest two commandments quoted  by Jesus in the Gospels :Love the Lord your God above all else, and love your neighbor as yourself. God created Adam alone at first maybe that he might learn to love the Lord his God above all else. Then a suitable mate was made for him (by GOD), that he may love his neighbor as himself. God created this mate, this friend, out of His love for Adam. This infers that God created other people for us to interact with, to live with, to talk with, because He loves us. God created us to be in community, and He created for us a community. Because He loves us.

Being around other people, I sometimes forget this. Forget that God created every person, every relationship, every circumstance. And His every has a purpose. Naïve of me to forget, I know. I get caught up in the people, in the expectations of relationships apart from God that I forget: relationships are built by God and for Him even if they exclude Him.  My challenge for myself as I am around family and friends of the past, believers and non, is to remember. As I engage in relationships that have spanned my life pre-, post- and concurrent with Christ, to remember. To remember Him, to remember the purpose of relationships, to remember my purpose in Him. Being around people that do not know Him, it is hard to remember that purpose. But the purpose is there nonetheless. These people, these dear friends that I can laugh and cry and recall with, are in my life for a reason. I get to share life with them because Christ loves me. Praise Him. He has loved me enough to bless me with this family and these friends. And I am oh so thankful, though sometimes that is hard for me to see. However, hard is no excuse. Hard is no alibi. Hard is merely a perception, a perception of an untrue reality. The true reality is that God loves, God loves me, God loves them and thus we are in each others' lives for purpose and reason. Now to seek that purpose, that reason, and above all, seek to love. "Love always protects, always hopes, always perseveres." 

Love has no boundaries, has no conditions, has no expectations. It just does, it listens and it responds regardless. People are in our lives because God loves, we get to love these people because God loves. Every relationship is an opportunity to love God and be loved by God regardless of the other person's perception (or lack thereof) of Him.

1 John 4:7-14

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God sent His only begotten Son into that world that we may love through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loves us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at anytime; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."

Be Loved

I have been thinking, well reading which has led me to thinking. Good thinking. I went to coffee shop this evening with the intention of doing some impending homework. However, upon arrival to the second coffee, as my safe first choice Panera was packed with a line out the door, I found the wifi inept. Opposed to inquiring with the barista as to why, I shut down my computer, put away my textbook, and pulled out a Donald Miller novel I have been intending to start back up. No complaints there. Within 20 pages of reading, my computer was back up, chai latte and Don pushed aside (gasp), and I was intently typing away. I don't know why, but there I was…well, am. What will come of those now said pages, I don't know. They are healing, I know that. Healing scabs I didn’t realize I was still picking. But there was one theme that good ole Don mentioned that I have spent so much time thinking about recently, one theme that initialized and catalyzed the clicking of my keyboard, one theme that is an integral truth to humanity, to life, to, well, everything: Jesus loves us.

Most of what I wrote has to do with one word, Love. (expect many subsequent posts to delve into this topic) The Bible speaks extensively of it. God is love. 1 Corinthians 13 is famous because of its theme of love. People seek love from the moment we are born to the moment we die. Every child craves the love of his or her parents, every teenager the love of acceptance from friends, and most of us awkward twenty-somethings, love in the form of a spouse or lifelong friends. We all want to be loved, feel loved. We say we want to give love, well, some of us do at least. If we do give or not, that is another topic for another time. But love, we all inherently seek this.

Jesus as been blowing me away recently with the depth of His love for us. When the stereotypical evangelist shares the Gospel, they will say (and rightfully so) that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him, will not perish but have life everlasting (John 3:16)." This is then supplemented with an explanation of how man is bad, separated from God because of sin. God loves man so He came down in the likeness of a man, Jesus, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, rose again, and will return. We then accept Him as our Lord and Savior and are saved. The end.

While this is all true and good and God definitely moves in people through this explanation, it's barely half the story. Christ did more on this earth than "live the perfect life" and die on the cross for our sins. He loved!!! Read the Gospel. I think evangelists would be immensely more convincing if they took the time to explain the way Jesus not only came because of love, but came to love. Jesus came because of love, in love, and to love. THAT is the Gospel.

These verses in Mark struck me the other day, Mark 3:33-35:

"Who are my mothers and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Jesus' earthly family came to see Him. Instead of getting up to meet Mary, the woman who birthed him, raised him, and cared for him as a child, who had known Him the longest of any other earthly person; He remained where He was. He then addressed people He had just met, and claimed them to be His family, equal with those who had known Him His whole life (on earth). Wow.

The first thing that jumped out at me was that He counts me a sister. Me, a continually failing and falling sinner, a sister to Christ. Wow. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve to be counted kin to the God who created me; but He loves me, despite of me. I am oh so thankful and blown away by that. That He loves me. Not only does He love me, but He enables other brothers and sisters to love me, despite me; and inversely, me to love other brothers and sisters, despite them. It's beautiful.

After thinking on this a bit longer, something else a little less obvious struck a light on in my mind: Jesus shows absolutely NO favoritism here. It would be understandable if He were to get up and meet His 'family;' but He doesn't. He is in the middle of a conversation and that conversation is important enough to Him, the people He is talking to are important enough to Him, that He stays where He is. He shows no favoritism to people that have known Him His (or their) whole life, versus those who have only just met Him. He gives equal respect, equal love, equality overall, to both. Wow.

So, as a sister of Christ's and a sister in Christ, be loved. Be loved by Him, be loved by me, be loved.

Know that Christ loves you regardless of your acknowledgment of Him or not. His love is not conditional upon our realization. It is unconditional. Our subjective experience of His love is dependent upon our perception of it. So, be loved. Acknowledge Him, and be loved.

Buried Treasure

We were lost & yet You found us,
Hidden & now revealed;
Disposed & yet You treasure us,
Loved & newly sealed.

You gave us this gift inside to find
A higher purpose to guide our lives.
Dependency on others and beyond our own kind
Leads us to You to be fully satisfied.

It is Your love that beckons us to burdens,
Set in life by You to guide,
To look beyond the sun above us,
And to see The Son sitting at Your side.


We were lost & yet You found us,
Hidden & now revealed;
Disposed & yet You treasure us,
Loved & newly sealed.

We Need, therefore HE is...correction: HE IS, therefore we need

For a world where independence, self-sufficiency and self-provision are highly sought after, dependency based relationships seem to be not only the norm, but also the necessity. 

I have found myself perplexed and contemplating this paradox in thanks to my course readings about foreign aid to developing nations and whether or not it is working, and why or why not. It hit me (thank you Jesus) while reading that we need each other but this world is so flawed that we exploit each other's needs for one another, holding it over people's heads as a bargaining tool, a source of pride, and a false sense of self-sufficiency. Apart from God, our relationships are so messed up that we hurt more people than we help. Intentions are not pure and thus others suffer. 

We need, but only God can fulfill. This is a beautiful burden:

Fiscally, if you look at any market it is based on interlaced networks that need one another.  People need one another to earn a living: employers depend on employees, businesses on investors, stock markets on businesses and investors, consumers on businesses and vice versa, farmers on consumers and consumers on farmers. If I think back to even my breakfast this morning it is very apparent that I relied on so multiple people: farmers for the oats in my oatmeal, landlord for a place to make my oatmeal, water commission for water to make my oatmeal and all of the employees there, a store which sold me my oatmeal, the cashier, microwave manufacturers and vendors, etc...and that barely scrapes the surface of everyone who made my breakfast possible. (Thank you). We need each other. It is impossible to go through life without depending on another person for survival (and for so much more-happiness, sanity, health)

Why then do we go through life pretending that we can do it all on our own? Not the point of this post, but some food for thought. 

The truth of the matter is that intrinsically, we need one another. We live in a world and reality of innate dependency. This is a beautiful burden. Burden in that, if you have ever worked or even spoken with anyone who doesn't think like you or basically is not you, it is hard: miscommunications run rampant, feelings become hurt, misunderstandings flow freely. This has been the basis of how many conflicts? How many wars? How many business splits? How many divorces? Living with other people, needing other people indeed is burdensome (especially when we think that our way is always the right way). BUT, here is the beauty of it: it draws us to the realization that God exists, and more so, we need Him. Let me explain:

How can a world have such interlaced dependency occur by chance? The very fact that I depend on the earth's vegetation and fauna for food, shelter and clothing alone highlights this interlaced dependency that exists not only between humans, but also between humans and the earth. How can such a world be if it was formed without purpose, without design, but by mere coincidence?  This beautiful burden of innate dependency draws us (or I believe is intended to do so) to the realization that God exists, that He is Creator, and that we need Him like the people and earth around us. (And I would argue even more so!).

Yes, our web of relationships are not perfect. People and nations and more so the earth are continually exploited by others, justice fails to reign and exclusionary principles segregate nations and people groups from one another resulting in uneven distribution of resources as people seek independence and self--sufficiency. The web is not perfect, but it exists nonetheless. The fact that it is so imperfect, so flawed, is because of its key player-us, man. Our sin distorts the perfect interlaced dependency upon which God spoke this world into existence. 

So again, this intrinsic dependency draws the conclusion that we were created to need, we were created to depend, we were created to "love our neighbor as ourselves." Only One can meet those needs, only One can close the web of interlaced dependency that has become broken by self-seeking and independence. That is Christ. Life in Christ is freedom to depend as we were created to. I think the guys of Acts were onto something. "They shared all they had, nothing was considered their own." Again Christ says that we must deny ourselves to live a life to the full, we must depend on One whom is dependable.

To continue to seek independence is to continue to seek self-destruction. Me, this day, I shall seek the Lord, and I shall depend.  

Ezekiel 34:11-31

New International Version (NIV) (biblegateway.com) 

¹¹ “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.¹² As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. ¹³ I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. ¹⁴ I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
¹⁷ “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. ¹⁸ Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
²⁰ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, ²² I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³ I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
²⁵ “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. ²⁶ I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.^[a] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. ²⁷ The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. ³⁰ Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³¹ You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord."

RE: Paradox of Social Justice and Secularism

Jeffrey Sachs, a huge secular proponent of social equity and justice is a firm believer...not of Christ's, but of humanism: mankind's ability and willingness to do good, be good and stay good. His perspective is illustrated in his economic salvation plan guide of "The End of Poverty" where he makes a case for the ability of the world to wipe out global poverty by the year 2025. Bold. It was captivating and intriguing to say the least to see someone blatantly state the absurdity and harm of religion, then go on to argue that we need to look out for one another and help the underprivileged and forgotten as a whole human race. The whole time I was reading I couldn't help but ask myself, why Jeff-erh, Mr. Sachs, why do YOU care about eradicating global poverty. What motivates this passion within you? My arguments from below kept creeping into my mind as I turned page to page to see where this economic equity pro fell. Chapter 17 conveniently addressed just that why question for me...What a professional in the social justice and secularism had to say for the great why:

"Hard evidence has established strong linkages between extreme poverty abroad and the threats to national security. Poverty abroad can indeed hurt us at home, and has repeatably done so. To answer the earlier question, yes, countries do occasionally act altruistically, helping other countries to address their basic and social challenges. Indeed, they have done so for generations, as with the magnificent U.S. Marshall Plan. Foreign policy strategists have long recognized that acts of altruism-ending the slave trade, supporting countries in their independence from empire, extending assistance for reconstruction and development, providing humanitarian relief after natural disasters-are all acts of enlightened self-interest. That self-interest does not diminish such generous acts. Moral precepts, after all, are rules of behavior that establish a basis for cooperation and reciprocity on which civilization depends." (emphasis added)

Interesting.

"I believe that the richest of the rich can comfortably make such a contribution, and that they will understand that it will be a profound and meaningful demonstration of our generation's unique moment to secure global well-being."

His strategy for eradicating global poverty as expounded upon in the rest of the book is for rich countries and individuals to give out of their pockets to the poor nations. He is calling for the rich to selfishly act selfishlessly. Short term, they take a hit but long term they get to live in a safer globe. A would-be wonderful example of "loving the Lord your God above all else, and loving your neighbor as yourself" if everyone's motives were in the right place. I hate to say it, but with this argument for social equity I can't help but see the vanity of it. Eradicating poverty will never eradicate sin, nor disease, nor war, nor disparity. Man is still man at the end of the day no matter what coin(s) are in his pocket. I don't believe in a safe globe because I don't believe in the goodness of man apart from God. Thank you Mr. Sachs for shedding some light on the paradox of secularism and social justice. I appreciate your honesty, perspective and optimism in the goodness of man, I respectfully fail to agree.

Paradox of Social Justice and Secularism

Can you logically have a secular point of view, and hold a deep true passion for social justice and equity world wide? I don't know, it seems too much like a paradox to me...

As an assignment for one of my classes my professor asked each member of the class to write what influenced us to enter into the field of public health, more specifically global health. I thought it was an interesting exercise and was excited to not only reflect within myself and put my motives on paper, but also to see what had drawn my classmates to the seats beside me. At the beginning of class the professor read quite a few of the answers anonymously. I was blown away at the remarkable number of people that put "a desire to fight for social equity and social justice worldwide" as their motivation and number one influencing factor. Many cited the church or Catholic practices as the birthplace of their exposure to helping others, though they made it quite clear that they did not choose to pursue this field because of any religious belief or church. (In fact, my professor has made it quite clear that he does not believe in a God accompanied by many nods of agreement from my classmates) Interesting…all this talk of social justice and human's rights without a God got me thinking...is that paradoxical?

What is social justice and do all humans deserve it? Do all humans deserve the right to education, health care, clean water, electricity, plumbing? Are there basic human rights? If so, who came up with them? Who said that each person is entitled to a set of universal rights strictly because they are a person, alive? (In fact, the UN has a Universal Declaration of Human Rights)Why do we have rights? Why are we? 

I think it is all about your perception of who people are, what a person is. From a secular point of view, I really just don't get it. Please help me to understand: Why fight for social justice if you don't believe in a logical reason for justice, if you don't believe in God, if you believe in the 'American dream' mindset, if you believe in logic and intellectual reason over mysticism? If you don't believe in a Creator and family among the human race, why care so much about others?

According to evolution (or spontaneously accidental creation), man formed overtime beginning with a hot mess of chemicals and elements some billions of years ago. Throughout time, the theory of survival of the fittest ensued and only the species that learned to out survive, out run, out think, out plan other species, indeed survived. So we get to man from this soup along the evolutionary bio-chain.

Within the human race, would you predict that the survival of the fittest to still hold true? Maybe. That would explain the huge health disparities observable between continents, countries, even counties and districts within nations. That would explain a lot. BUT it would fail to explain social justice and why people fight for that, why people are even aware or sensitive to the idea of social justice. If it is survival of the fittest, why would you want to 'help a brother out?' Go out of your way to serve another, love another, fight for another if there is no observable benefit for yourself or your own personal survival (or survival of loved ones)? Maybe on an emotional level there is the benefit-to feel better about oneself, giving you an emotional edge over other people? The happier a person is, the longer they will most likely live? (what is happiness anyway?) So by helping other people, fighting for others' 'rights', you indeed are extending your own longevity, your own survival? That is one way of looking at it, I guess…

Alternatively, maybe survival of the fittest isn't so much a concept on the individual level, but more so on a species or communal level. Lions travel in prides right without killing each other? Birds in flocks, and fish (naturally the most intelligent) in schools. As a species maybe we feel the need to band together and fight for one another so that we, the human race, will endure for all eternity (or until a huge meteor from space takes us out, ice age part 2 anyone?).  To me, this theory would make more sense (again, from a secular point of view). That would do a better job of explaining why people fight for social justice…though it still does little to resolve the issue of where these so called human rights come from, and why as a human being we deserve or should be warranted such rights. However, the question is thus posed that if this is indeed true and we as a race feel an innate need to band together for the survival of our species, why did disparities even form in the first place? What made man first feel the sensation of entitlement and superiority causing others to fall out of reach from the socioeconomic ladder or below the poverty line while they ran ahead in fields of opportunity and advancement? Why are we not all living in equal luxury or lack of luxury? According to this theory, disparities  should not be among us. We should look for the survival of our species as a whole…or maybe our idea of 'species' has evolved into a new definition, to instead refer to our own population or nation or cohort. I mean we now have culturalism, patriotism, racism, nationalism right? Where we take pride and unite with our own nation, race, culture, etc. But again, that would lead to yet another unresolved question of why fight for social justice for a population or cohort other than your own? Why? Why travel abroad, why leave comforts, why demand equal rights for all if that 'all' is not solely encompassed within your immediate vicinity? I just don't get it. What makes you aware of these injustices and what is justice? Have we evolved yet again to just thrive off of a sense of adventure? Do we long so bad to feel good about ourselves and thus help others? That does not explain the passion I see on news' reels of marches and protests, it does not explain the urgency eminent on my classmates faces when the topic of equity and social justice arises in classes. So much unexplained…if you don't believe in God.

Maybe people want to help others because they are searching for a hope in the meaninglessness of life. They reason that if they can bring hope to another, bring good and change into someone else's life, that will give their life meaning and purpose. Otherwise, as a being created from a heated chemical stew, our lives are quite frankly meaningless and just random chance. There is no hope. People long for meaning and purpose, and more so the hope of that. From a secular point of view though, there is no hope. Once again, social justice is not a logical cause even if on conquest for a sense of hope. Hope simply can not exist apart from God.

The Bible explains all of this. It is very clear that no one deserves a thing, we don't deserve the right to medicine, or technology, or clean water, or love, or justice, nothing! Yet, we have it. That is by the grace of God, our Creator, who loves us thus has bestowed all of these upon us. Yet disparities exist. Does this mean that those with advantage or more access to their 'rights' are more loved by God? Does the existence of disparities question the goodness and love of God? Absolutely not. God has empowered the human mind with knowledge which has led to the creation of technology, economics, medicine, etc. Again, a gift from Him. It is how humans have used this gift that has created the disparities we see today. The fact that health and socioeconomic disparities exist is merely a reflection of the sin inside of man. The desire to serve oneself over others, and the desire to feel superior by excluding others. Quite a paradox then to fight for social justice. War and hate, sin and a desire for entitlement is in each man's heart. This has led to the limiting of access and available opportunities for advancement worldwide. This has segregated populations, nations, cultures and brothers globally and locally. While man has the propensity, the desire to be good, he cannot. (with Christ we are made one with Him and thus overcome our sin). Maybe man fights for social justice because he wants to be good, he has that desire. He knows, he feels that there is something not quite right with the world today, things aren’t as they were intended to be. And they aren't, this isn't the way God intended for Creation to go (though He knew it would). Maybe that instinct of wanting to be good is what leads non Christians to fight for social justice, to feel and believe that each human has a set of universal rights though they can't yet explain why. They are trying to fix the wrong of this world, the reflections of sin in this world. But they can't. Not without God. "If a man abides in me and me in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing!"

While I still have no idea why a non Christian would be passionate about social justice or more specifically choose to go into the field of global public health, I know why Christians do. "He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before your God." "Love your neighbor as yourself." "Love even your enemies."  "They will know you are His by your love." "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself." "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and surely I am with you until the end of the ages." "Dear brothers, let us not love with word or tongue, but in actions and in truth." We have a responsibility as Christians to love the unlovable, to bring hope to the hopeless, to seek the lost, and to open doors of opportunity and joy to the broken and abandoned. That is why I am in Public Health. To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God that all the earth may know that He is. That, my friend, is no paradox.

In Transit-Are People Good?

From daily making use of public transit in Boston, the MBTA, I have come to the conclusion that people want to be good, maybe they just don't know how. Yes, our natural inclination is sin and selfishness and disobedience (the Bible, and my unchecked actions, are very clear on that), but from watching people I think that our natural inclination is also to fix that, to try to be good.

Early last week I rode the 47 bus, as I typically do, to class. Each time I have taken that bus or another or even the T, I have noticed a sort of subculture forming within the bus. A subculture of comradory that transcends racial lines, socioeconomic status, and even age and gender identities. A subculture developing merely because of our shared environment and experience: riding the bus somewhere between Ruggles Station and the Boston Medical Center. When an elderly individual walks in, immediately people stand to allow him or her to sit, or someone with a cane (even if they look slightly crazy). People help one another, shouting if the door closes before some poor softspoken girl can get off as she rushes to the front through the packed out T. People want to be good people. Thank God. Thank God that He put that desire within us, if He had't can you imagine what this world would look like given what it looks like now?

However, people wanting to be good just isn't good enough. We are still selfish and innately unrighteous. More times than not our selfishness outweighs our desire to be good, especially when no one is looking on. It is easy, excuse me-easier, to do the right thing in a bus full of people with others looking on as an elderly individual boards. The motivation to stand and offer your seat may not come from a desire or wanting to be good but more so a desire to look good, not be a good person but appear as a good person. The latter showing in fact the absence of true goodness within, true goodness lies in the motivation for good actions. The actual act of getting up though does show a desire to want goodness, even if that desire comes out of selfish motivations. The problem then is that we can't be good no matter how hard we try because the truth is, our selfishness gets in the way. After a long hard day one may be less inclined to get up from their seat with a justified thinking that "someone else will rise to the occasion, my circumstances warrant me a deserving right to sit down." We can't make ourselves selfless, we can't make ourselves perfect, without wrong, we can't make ourselves good all the time no matter how much we may want to, or want to appear that we are. We are selfish.

It gives me hope that people do try though, try to be good. By trying, that insinuates a desire to change, a desire to find a solution. That solution is Jesus Christ who makes us perfect and holy and sinless through His redemptive obedience on the cross and the subsequent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in each believer. Thank God that I can be good, not on my own accord, but with dependence on and action of the Holy Spirit within me. I can be good even when I am alone, even when I am not on a packed out bus with eyes watching on. The hard part though, is choosing that goodness. Choosing the Holy Spirit over my selfishness. That choice is hard and usually uncomfortable, but not impossible (thank God). Selfishness is comfortable and easy. So then, it is a daily choice to be good, a daily choice to utilize the Holy Spirit, a daily choice to depend. Thank you God for the choice, for the desire and for the possibility to be good as I desire to be. The more I choose God's goodness the more I want to choose God's goodness because I realize that choice allows me and enables me to live to the full potential and opportunity that God has called me to, through His abundant grace.


2 Cor 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

John 15:5, 8 "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing...By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."

1 Peter 1:14-16, 22-23 "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."...Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth from a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God."

John 7: 38 "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"

We are enabled to live a holy, righteous, being-good life by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through Christ's sacrificial act of the cross. Not because of us, but because of Him. (Eph 2:8-10)