There are two things you will learn about me after a week of getting to know me:
1. I really enjoy rock climbing. To the point that I end up making every school project about it somehow.
2. I am not very good at rock climbing. I finally just got my first V2, and I'm still working on getting an easy 5.10. And I started climbing almost two years ago. For those of you that don't understand what I just wrote, it just means I am still a beginner.
Of course it's frustrating because I want to be good at something I love. And my fleshly side wants to make myself Great, in every way possible. My fleshly side wants to be The Best. The Prettiest, The Fittest, The Best Designer, The Best Climber. My fleshly side says that if I'm not The Best At Everything, my life will be wasted. It says what's the point of it all if you're bad at things? Ironic though because I'm really not the best at anything.
But thankfully I am sometimes able to take a step back and discern a little. God tends to swoop in during these times and give me a better perspective. Because I am better at making lists than I am at writing, here is a list of what God tells me:
1. Don't make a hobby your life. Don't make an idol out of it. If you were great at it, it would be even harder for it not to become an idol.
2. Pretend you live your life being The Best. Then what? What happens when you die? What did you get? What was your life about? You know you don't want to waste your life by living it simply for yourself.
3. Your climbing abilities do not define you.
4. I use the weak to break the strong.
5. I still love you even though you aren't The Best.
I think God commands us to not care about certain things too much. Why get so caught up in this life? We are supposed to use this life for things that are bigger than ourselves. Balancing idolatry and passion is a tough concept folks. And believe it or not, I didn't make that list up. Here are some verses to back it up:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
1 Jn 2:15-17
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
Galatians 4:6-7
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Matthew 6:24-25
This is good stuff. Thanks
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