Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Just-a-ponderin'

Been doin' some pondering lately.
about perseverance. about forgiveness. about perfection.

Perseverance: 
running The Race.  seeking the Kingdom.  loving the King.
Forgiveness:
failure. brokeness. picking up the pieces.  Trying.Again.
Perfection:
never content. keeps me moving. seeking to be better.

So many things about the Christian Life are enriching, beautiful, awe-inspiring. 
The other day I was delving into one of my favorite books of all time, Mere Christianity.  Lewis was talking about chastity in his chapter on Sexual Morality.  ickkk.  Quite the sticky subject in current culture...well, even in Lewis' day too.  But what I love about this chapter, this book, is that so much of it goes beyond the surface.  I love to sit, and ponder...to "chew" on the nuggets that saturate this book, this chapter especially. 

So in regards to my ponderings:

Perseverance:
"It is wonderful what you can do when you have to."  I love this. 
When Dad and I go backpacking during the summers, so much of our time is spent on "haves" and not "wants".  Eating, hiking, filtering water, building a fire.  These things that are often "wants" in daily life, become essential to survival out on the trail.  You have to eat.  You have to build a fire to cook.  You have to.  You will not survive if you don't.  How would our lives change if we embraced the Christian life by this outlook?  Chastity is no longer an option.  Honesty is a necessity.  Generosity becomes an obsession.  Loving others is vital to life. 

Forgiveness:
"After each failure, aks forgiveness, pick yourself up, and Try Again.  Very often, what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again."  What a beautiful, simplified picture of the Christian life!  I love it.  I love that our God is so big that our failures do not define us.  I love that the power of the Cross is so strong that 2000 years later we still get forgiveness freely, and profoundly, by simply asking. 

Perfection:
In conjuncture with forgiveness, Lewis states, "we learn that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, but that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven.  The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection."  Never, ever, under any circumstance, let Satan tempt me with complacency.  Perfection, in Jesus.  Seeking always to be made better, to grow.  To change.  To deepen who I am in Christ.  To more fully, more faithfully be His.  Why?  Because "virtue, even attempted [but failed] virtue brings Light." 

And I want to add to the Sonshine.

On a different note, have you heard about myoneword.org?  It's a movement in the Christian community to choose one word for the year, instead of achieving any New Year's resolutions.  Well, I'm struggling to come up with one word...I'm a female, we thrive on wordiness! =)
So instead, I have chosen one verse for the year. 

I leave you with this:


3 comments:

  1. love your post header font. how did you do that?

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  2. I love everything you shared here! I also "love that our God is so big that our failures do not define us"! Well said! Perseverance, Perfection, and Forgiveness are all such important parts of our Christian walk.

    You are definitely adding to the Son's shine!
    It's been wonderful to meet you : )

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  3. Inspiring. Thanks for the encouragement. Needed it today!

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