Category: Interior Life

pure gold money

The Beauty Of Holiness

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The directive to actively pursue purification is one of the most prevalent themes in the New Testament. We can think of pursuing holiness as wiping the mud out of our eyes so we can see God clearly. It is the restoration of our original Adamic image of God which includes freedom from the dirt and grime that robbed us of the vital and peaceful Spiritual life that God desires for us. Holiness becomes increasingly sweeter as we mature because we feel more of the peace and joy that comes with participating in the nature of God. As we grow in holiness we will feel ourselves becoming more at one with our bridegroom. We experience a foretaste of our future marital bliss. So we pursue holiness out of love. We begin to understand that this purity produces beauty and beauty produces delight. When someone finds a gold nugget in the ground Continue Reading →

humility

Practical Tips For Deeper Humility

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This is our third post on the topic of humility. We began with the challenge of humility then looked at the humility of Francis of Assisi. I thought that it would be helpful to list some of the traits of deeper humility mentioned by two great Christian teachers. The first list is from John of the Cross (b. 1542 – d. 1591) who observed: They think everyone else is far better than they are… Their good deeds and the gratification they receive from them only cause them to be more aware of their debt to God and the inadequacy of their service to him… These souls humbly and tranquilly long to be taught by anyone who might be a help to them. They rejoice when others receive praise… These souls would give their life’s blood to anyone who serves God… When they see themselves fall into imperfections, they suffer this Continue Reading →

The Unusually Humble Words of Francis of Assissi

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Previously, we described the challenge of humility. On this day when we remember the crucifixion of Jesus and his deep humility, it might be helpful to remember someone who strove to imitate Christ’s humility. Francis of Assissi (b.1182 – d.1246) was founder of the Franciscan movement that swept across Europe in the 13th century. Francis left behind his family wealth after a dream from God and encounters with God that filled him with love and convinced him to follow the way of poverty. He began to minister to the poor and at one point he went to a local lepers’ house and asked forgiveness for despising them, gave them all some money and kissed each one on the mouth. Later, he spent two years nursing lepers and living in poverty. Many people in the town thought he was mad and they mocked and ridiculed him. Soon others began following him Continue Reading →

humility pride

The Challenge Of Humility

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Jesus described himself with the words: “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29, NIV). Humility is a trait of citizens of the kingdom: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3, NIV[). If we are becoming like Christ then we will be growing in gentleness and humility. Jesus is the ideal and by the Father’s grace we can relate to others with the same gentleness and humility that he had. This will be a huge challenge for us as we grow in Christ because we will be given positions of responsibility and we will be immediately tempted to think of ourselves or present ourselves as more mature and invulnerable than those around us. We will fear showing weakness because we might lose credibility. Specifically, we will begin to act less needy and become less teachable. We will become less willing to Continue Reading →

approval

The Pitfall Of Pleasing Others

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One of the biggest barriers to spiritual growth is the desire to please people more than God. This is a constant temptation for all of us. People are right in front of us. We can see their faces and we don’t want to disappoint them. And if we have a big heart for people then we are even more tempted to please them before we please God. It is hard to put into words how enormous this problem is. We watch unbelievers live wasted lives because they want to win the approval of people around them. They compromise and live meaningless lives because that’s the environment they are in and they want the approval of others. And there are plenty of people willing to give them this approval. Paul describes this in Romans Chapter 1 where he first lists various sins then says people who do them are “foolish, faithless, Continue Reading →