Life is hard. It's even harder when you have to be right all the time.
Richard Foster, in his masterpiece A Celebration of Discipline, writes the following:
"The obsession to demand that things go the way we want them to go is one of the greatest bondages in human society today. People will spend weeks, months, even years in a perpetual stew because some little thing did not go as they wished. They will fuss and fume. They will get mad about it. They will act as if their very life hangs on the issue. They may even get an ulcer over it." ( p 111)
Is this true? Absolutely. One of the beautiful things about Christianity is that God calls us not to live that way. He calls us to lay down the terrible burden of having to have our own way; to lay down the crushing burden of having to be right. Have you ever experienced this kind of freedom?
Foster goes on:
[When we do this] we are at last free to value other people. Their dreams and plans become important to us. We have entered into a new, wonderful, glorious freedom- the freedom to give up our own rights for the good of others. For the first time we can love people unconditionally. We have given up the right to demand that they return our love. No longer do we feel that we have to be treated in a certain way. We rejoice in their successes. We feel genuine sorrow at their failures. It is of little consequence that our plans are frustrated if their plans succeed. We discover that it is far better to serve our neighbor than to have our own way." p 112
Do you realize that this is the way Jesus has called us to live, day in and day out? A life of freedom- of laying down the terrible burden of having to have our own way, and in turn being able to joyfully and truthfully love people unconditionally. How many of us truly rejoice in the successes of others? How many of us truly feel sorrow at their failures? How many of us are so bitter and angry and frustrated because we don't feel we are treated the way we expect to be treated?
This is where the revolutionary life and teachings of Jesus become so beautiful. Never once did Jesus fuss and fume because the Pharisees didn't respect him. Never once did Jesus rejoice in a wicked man's failure or grow jealous of John the Baptist's ministry of baptism. Never once did Jesus push his way to the front, demanding to be treated as the Son of God should be treated. He was free, totally free, to love people unconditionally because He voluntarily gave up the right to demand His way.
This is one of the many reasons Jesus is my hero. This is why I am a Christian. The life that Jesus led is so revolutionary, so real, so pure, so amazing- that's the life I want. I want so desperately to be able to love others unconditionally like Jesus did. I want so desperately to be able to lay down the burden of having to have my own way or be treated a certain way. I want so desperately to live as Jesus did.
I have found that having the correct beliefs is the easy part. It's the part that Foster was talking about that is the hard part.
Richard Foster, in his masterpiece A Celebration of Discipline, writes the following:
"The obsession to demand that things go the way we want them to go is one of the greatest bondages in human society today. People will spend weeks, months, even years in a perpetual stew because some little thing did not go as they wished. They will fuss and fume. They will get mad about it. They will act as if their very life hangs on the issue. They may even get an ulcer over it." ( p 111)
Is this true? Absolutely. One of the beautiful things about Christianity is that God calls us not to live that way. He calls us to lay down the terrible burden of having to have our own way; to lay down the crushing burden of having to be right. Have you ever experienced this kind of freedom?
Foster goes on:
[When we do this] we are at last free to value other people. Their dreams and plans become important to us. We have entered into a new, wonderful, glorious freedom- the freedom to give up our own rights for the good of others. For the first time we can love people unconditionally. We have given up the right to demand that they return our love. No longer do we feel that we have to be treated in a certain way. We rejoice in their successes. We feel genuine sorrow at their failures. It is of little consequence that our plans are frustrated if their plans succeed. We discover that it is far better to serve our neighbor than to have our own way." p 112
Do you realize that this is the way Jesus has called us to live, day in and day out? A life of freedom- of laying down the terrible burden of having to have our own way, and in turn being able to joyfully and truthfully love people unconditionally. How many of us truly rejoice in the successes of others? How many of us truly feel sorrow at their failures? How many of us are so bitter and angry and frustrated because we don't feel we are treated the way we expect to be treated?
This is where the revolutionary life and teachings of Jesus become so beautiful. Never once did Jesus fuss and fume because the Pharisees didn't respect him. Never once did Jesus rejoice in a wicked man's failure or grow jealous of John the Baptist's ministry of baptism. Never once did Jesus push his way to the front, demanding to be treated as the Son of God should be treated. He was free, totally free, to love people unconditionally because He voluntarily gave up the right to demand His way.
This is one of the many reasons Jesus is my hero. This is why I am a Christian. The life that Jesus led is so revolutionary, so real, so pure, so amazing- that's the life I want. I want so desperately to be able to love others unconditionally like Jesus did. I want so desperately to be able to lay down the burden of having to have my own way or be treated a certain way. I want so desperately to live as Jesus did.
I have found that having the correct beliefs is the easy part. It's the part that Foster was talking about that is the hard part.
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