A Letter to Sin

Dear Sin,

You are crouching at my door.  You desire to have me and fool me into your trap.  You bring in me a tendency to do wrong and cause my health to be broken.  You bring me guilt and burdens too heavy to bear.  My heart is anguished and filled with grief.  My family stands at a distance; my loved ones stay away.  Why is it so easy to drift away and fall into you?

Over the centuries many have been overcome by the awareness of your presence.  Yet many found comfort and hope in the word of God.  I am now silent and still.  I shall share the the depth of my sorrow and repentance with God.  I rest assured in the understanding that God will respond with complete forgiveness.  Sin, you are a rebellion against God and I will rule over you.  Unfailing love and faithfulness will make atonement for you.

Blessed am I because my transgressions are forgiven.  I feel sorrow for you and it brings me hope.  You are like a weed in a beautiful garden; once pulled out, you will do whatever it takes to come back.  You are a disgrace to everyone, but righteousness makes us great.  May Jesus be my gardener.  Through him everyone who believes is set free from your enslavement.  I know I fall short, but I am made right by faith.  The closer you come to me, the more abundant God’s grace becomes.

Sin, I will not let you control the way I live.  You are no longer my master and I am no longer your slave.  I will be a slave to righteousness.  I will do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.  I know that you will always follow me, but  my faith will be on the one who took away my sins, and in him there is no sin.

Sincerely,

A Faithful Traveler

with help from a Daily Prompt

Just Relax

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” ~Ephesians 4:2

One of my favorite, this verse has a soothing effect when I need a reminder to slow down and remember what is truly important in life.  It is short and to the point.  Stop thinking of yourself, it tells me; place God first, then others, then yourself.  Stay calm: what do we gain from being harsh towards others?  What’s the rush?  And the hardest part, show love towards others even when they show otherwise.  It is very easy to get annoyed and become impatient in certain situations.  How much more fruitful would it be to sympathize and assist others in distressed circumstances than to complain or try to find fault.

The verse is packaged with four important graces

• Humility: not thinking more highly or less highly of yourself than others.  We are all made in the image of God.
• Meekness: to keep your cool.  It is power under control.
• Patience: the endurance we need to exercise during uncomfortable situations
• Love: in this context encompassing commitment, service, and tolerance of others

A Father and His Two Lost Sons

In Luke 15:11-32, a “prodigal” son asks his father for his portion of the inheritance only to move away and lose everything. Shamed, he returns to a father, who welcomes him back with open arms, and an envious elder brother, who is outraged because he never gets the recognition he feels he deserves.

What is most interesting, is that each of the three characters in this story is motivated by different factors. The younger son is motivated, at first by a need for autonomy. He wants to be on his own and be able to choose his own course. The younger son is also motivated by extrinsic factors, immediate gratification, and things he does not feel he can get at home. After he loses everything, he is motivated by a need for relatedness. He wants to come back to the one person he knows will still be there to take him back, even if he has to work for his acceptance.

The elder son, who remains at home and always follows the rules, is perhaps motivated by a need for competence. He is also extrinsically motivated by the avoidance of punishment. This brother feels deserving of praise because he has worked diligently and behaved according to the father’s rules all along. Then he feels let down, when it is the undeserving son who gets the recognition. The elder son shows however, that he too, is willing to distant himself from the father, in order to get what he wants.

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It is only the father then, who demonstrates unwavering love. He lives by unselfish motives, willing to accept both of his sons, after each has disrespected him. What is it that intrinsically motivates the father?

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We all have interdependent needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. If one of those needs is thwarted, our intrinsic motivation is hindered. Conditions that support our psychological need for autonomy facilitate our intrinsic motivation by fostering a sense of volition and initiative. We have an innate need to feel competent when working towards meeting meaningful challenges. Our vitality depends on our relationships with others as well as our relationship with God. As in the case of each brother, when one of these needs are not met, our motives limit our ability to live by faith.

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To live by faith means to seek and accept the unwavering love of Our Father.  He is the only one who will ultimately and consistently satisfy our needs autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

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Religion vs Faith

What is the difference between being religious and living a life of faith?  “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)  Religion without faith is worthless.  Having faith is being absolutely confident that what seems impossible will occur if we live a life of service, sacrifice, and at times, perseverance.  Faith is not something we own.  It is not something we inherit from our parents.  It is not even something we get at church.  Certainly, the values that our parents inculcate in us will influence our faith.  Without doubt, worship at church contributes to the development of our faith.  But try to put your finger on your faith, and there isn’t one thing that you can point to.  Faith, like culture, is a way of life.  Living by faith is a way of life achieved through service and sacrifice for the greater good of others.  It is defined by our actions, particularly those towards others.

A great misconception exists that being religious is synonymous with living a life of faith.  But think about it, there are a host of things you can do to be religious that do not in themselves exemplify faith.  This does not make any of those activities bad, but if you can involve yourself in a religious practice in isolation, it is not by itself, faith.  For example, knowing scripture helps you learn about religion but doing what scripture says, all the time, demonstrates faith in action.  Bible study is important, but it has no effect on faith if it does not change your behaviors and attitudes.  So what can we do to ensure that we do not become satisfied and stagnant with religion and fail to develop our faith?

It is not enough to talk about faith.  We must live it!  I hope that this blog will help to deepen my understanding of what it means to live by faith, allow me to share my thoughts, and hold me accountable to actually live it!