Thursday, July 31, 2014

Col 3:12 | Chalkboard Art

I created this chalkboard art to hang in my laundry room because months ago, in the thick of "it"-you know "it" the tough, testing times of life-I felt that God pointed me toward this verse in Colossians 3:12
"Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."
It gets harder:
"Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive any one who offends you."

Ahhhh!!! So, hard. The last thing you want to do when you've been offended and mistreated is to make allowances for the other's faults. They're wrong! Faults are wrong. Being offended is offensive! Aren't I justified to be angry, and to point out such wrongs for them to address. Make allowances? And forgive? What?! How!?
I knew God put it in my heart. I knew He wanted me to make it my habit. I knew He would help me, since these virtues are not in me naturally.

First, I started out in the small, but still tough, instances around our house, making allowances for annoying things that make me feel taken for granted (hello! can nobody else put back what they get out?) Before long, my new convictions were tested in bigger, more painful circumstances.

Amazed by how God helped me to clothe myself in such virtues, I was certain my heavenly Father had put this in my heart. In a podcast on Christian's Happiness, Tim Keller talked about terrible things happening to Christians and God using such suffering to make us more like Him. The truth fell on me like rain: through my suffering, He was patiently, grinding me (because "molding" sounds pretty & the process is so ugly) into His image. 

This week greeted me with a mess of a situation. My heart is breaking, my resolve to follow God's mandate to respond in humility and grace has been tested.
With a lump in my throat, I cried out to God with, "it's not making a bit of a difference! I'm doing this, as you say, and it's not changing them a bit. It's not changing any of these situations."
And a still, small voice spoke to my heart:
"It's not meant to change them. It's meant to change you.
It's not meant to alter the situation. It's meant to alter your reaction."

And therein lies some harsh truth about following God's Word: we do it because He commanded it, because we love Him. We don't obey because it will pay in the end, & not because we can take pride in having such virtues, but simply, because He asked it of us. (Again, made clear to me through a Tim Keller podcast, A Promise of Hope

God, make my virtues true, with motivations to honor You, become like You and not for my gain or pride. Help me. In the thick of it. I need You. Amen.

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4 comments:

  1. words for the soul today... thanks for sharing, T.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was perfect. "We don't obey because it will pay in the end, & not because we can take pride in having such virtues, but simply, because He asked it of us." So convicting.

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