Leaving Behind: Self

For if I by grace be a partaker why am I evil 

spoken of for that which I give thanks? 

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink,or whatsoever 

ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none 

offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, 

not to the church of God: even as I please 

all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, 

but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 

1Corinthians 10:30-33; 11:1

     It seem incredulous that people who attend Church, call themselves "Christian" have yet to incorporated the words of God into their souls, into their exercise of life. The Biblical principle is so very different from many who profess to be Christian. How? Rather than hold a desire to please God in all things, to holds that desire in high esteem, they do just the opposite, and what is worse is that they make excuses to be reasons for such an attitude far different from the principle set forth in Scripture. The Bible is clear, plain, and teaches us that the state of our minds should be conducive to a true condition that is one of humility and even to recognize the extent of our flaws. The Bible teaches us that we are fight against our natural tendencies toward arrogance and self-importance. If a person advances in virtue, is to have an advantage by this knowledge: it is the work of God in our lives. The Bible teaches is to reject any tendency of pride or selfishness. Remember there are consequences for all that we do or say. We are to allow God to create in us a new sense, a sense of humility and to live to the glory of God, not self. God alone is to be exalted and all our glory to to be turned to God. 

     Is what was written about in the previous paragraph? Yes! We all stumble, we all fail in some way, yet we have a God who is willing to forgive, to lead you away from such acts, or words, and all you, or I, have to do is to repent with all honesty. Turn from the inside/out: make the changes necessary so that what you are, what you do, or what you say is all to the glory of God. Do not think so highly of yourself, or to think so lowly of yourself, you are a child of God, live as one! Beware that you allow yourself to think that the small things of life are not ordained of God. No, He did not cause them, He allowed them and you, or I, must do something about them and first: God ordained them and He is willing to aid you to not fall prey to the wiles of this world due to some sort of depression, or shame. Think on this: it is not your devotion to God that makes you refuse to be shallow, but your wish to impress other people with the fact that you are not shallow: this is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is an old Greek word meaning to put on a fake face to represent something other than yourself. If you allow contempt for yourself to rule your life you will see others as shallow, or does not meet up with what you would like yourself to be or do. It is not wrong to judge sin, but not to judge a person simply because he/she is in need to grow in faith. This is your job, your responsibility to care for your brothers and sisters and this cannot be done when you hold yourself up higher than others. 

     Jesus came to earth, live as all men live, eat, drink, sleep, be persecuted, called to be a drunkard, to feel the pain of heat, or the pain of stubbing ones toes. Jesus slept when He was tired. All this, and yet, He did not allow those shallow things of earth distract Him from His mission. We too, have a mission, and that mission is not different from what Jesus' mission was and is: to bring to others the Gospel, the Good News. Jesus is our Groom, we are His bride, so why do we think that we should be above Him, Who is our Master? 

     Authentic Christians are those who take with determination God seriously. The first person that you must leave behind is you, you the fraud, you the one being bombarded by the culture of this world. You are to leave behind thinking so highly of yourself that you become lazy, to become tacitly cultural. Do not turn the other way; the way that comes so often by those who desire to live a pious life and find it in a form of experiential Christianity, a form of euphoric worship, all so that they have not really left behind their old way, only adopted it to a hypocrisy: they think that they are doing what is right when in fact they are harming themselves, others, and most importantly, the are bringing shame upon Jesus Christ, upon God. There is a balance: live by the word of God, make God the highest priority, and live a Biblical common-sense life. This is the way to please God, and if it please men, so be it as that is good. 

He that justifieth the wicked,

    and he that condemneth the just,

even they both are abomination to the LORD.

                    Proverbs 17:15

Enjoy this life: It is your gift from God

Richard L. Crumb