Growth

Fueled

I’m very compliant.

When I was in high school, a bunch of friends unexpectedly went over to another friend’s house unexpectedly. Because I wasn’t supposed to be at a house when the parents weren’t home, upon finding out about their absence, I waited outside for my friends to finish their visit.

In college, my friends would laugh at me because instead of walking across the street from my apartment to the school, I would venture down to the crosswalk to traverse the road.  Forget the fact that the rest of the student body didn’t feel the need to do the same.

If we’re playing a board game, and there’s a question about how it is supposed to be played, I will immediately fish for the rule book and abide by it.

And while being so compliant probably doesn’t do a lot to endear me to my peers, growing up it had a good effect on my self-perception. I could identify myself as “the good girl.”

Yet Scripture doesn’t say that we should do good because we will think highly of ourselves for doing it; Scripture says that we do good because of our love for and desire to please God.

And what motivates this love?

Knowledge of Him.

As Colossians 1:9-10 states:

And so  from the day we heard,we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. [emphasis mine]

Did you catch that?

As we understand God and His will more, we will walk in a manner worthy of Him.

Not only because we know what pleases Him, and therefore know better what we should do, but because we have greater understanding of Who He is, and therefore don’t want to do things that would disappoint Him.

Our increased knowledge of Him increases our desire for Him. And our desire to do those things that make Him happy.

So if we want to live a life more pleasing to Him, we should learn more about Him.

  • We should study His Word.
  • We should spend time in prayer.
  • We should listen to other Christians who know Him more.

And just like gas powers a car, that knowledge should be the fuel that prompts our good works.

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Purpose

(Almost) Everything I Need To Know

A popular book claims that All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. In it the author demonstrates that as kids we learned most of what we need to know about how we treat others and how we should act. The problem is applying these lessons as adults.


What I recently realized is that in a lot of ways, this is true for our Christian walk too. Specifically, I realized that many of the songs I learned as a kid still carried important truths that I sadly don’t regularly apply each and every day  So, although I’m sure this is not comprehensive, here’s a refresher of the truths we learned as kids:

  • This is the Day – Today is God’s day. Regardless of what happens in it, I need to “rejoice and be glad in Him.” Seemingly easy to do in preschool, but perhaps even more important to do as an adult. Recognizing that every day I live on this Earth is a day that God wants to accomplish something in my life makes every day a special day. Let’s celebrate and be thankful for God’s provision of today.

 

  • Deep and Wide – One of the reasons we have to celebrate regardless of what happens in our day – God’s immeasurable love. We can’t know the depths or the breadths of it, but we can rest in His love. If the day holds nothing else for us, it holds this truth – God’s love is flowing like a fountain and it is deeper and wider than we can ever day. Let us wash ourselves in His love today.

 

  • Beloved, Let us Love One Another – The best way to partake of God’s love – drink of His fountain and share it with others. Scripture specifically says that those who love God, will love others. Our ability to love others comes from our love of God. Therefore let us love God deeply and in doing so, love each other deeply too.

 

  • Rise and Shine – In all we do, whether in work or play, we have to get up, get going, and “give God the glory, glory.” Just as Noah built the ark at God’s command, even though he had never seen rain, so we must commit to doing what God has called us to do today, and in it honor Him. Our job is to put God’s goodness on display. We better get moving!

What truths about God did you learn as a kid?

 

 

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