The only way I've found to love my family that works is to be done with all my work first. Since I will never be done, I must then abandon all my pursuits save one: to say, “It is finished,” and end my selfish life that primarily only focused on me and now live again victoriously to serve my neighbor. Maybe that is what Jesus was modeling to us with the cross. Showing us the pattern of how to live. And that pattern is to live for others and how you do that is not to simply deny yourself some earthly pleasures from time to time as we've been led to believe but to die to ourselves once and for all - to remember to die to that selfish idea and that way of life every day if need be because that will free us to focus totally on other people without hindrance from ourselves. It's only after we die to ourselves – die to our old way of living a selfish life - that our potential to do things for others becomes unlimited. And living this way is the happiest I've ever been. The happiness comes from knowing that I’m living without regret – that I’ve chosen to live honorably. That I can confidently stand in front of God knowing that I did my best – that I did the best I knew I could do. When I love others first, I feel that sense of “I’m living rightly.” And those that I love usually repay my kindness with appreciation. Because we all want someone around us that takes care of us.
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