What Do I Value?

Yesterday in class we were discussing the question of change. The three topics we addressed were: How Do We Change? We Have To Know Ourselves Truly By Listening, and We Have All We Need, We Have To Use It.

In the first topic we thought about the Gospel Gap. We typically know what we are save from. We have a good sense of what we are saved to. What sometimes eludes us is what difference does the gospel make in my life today. We find ourselves grateful that we are freed from the guilt and power of sin. It is wonderful to learn that Jesus fulfilled the demands of the law on our behalf and God no longer requires us to meet the law's demands for perfection. We have some idea of what heaven is and what we can expect for our future. We are often at a loss as to how the gospel shapes us today. How are we to live in this life?

As we went over this we asked the question "Why do you want to change?" We aren't really the people we want to be. We struggle in many ways. We want to be different, but why? If I am really honest, as one class member said, I want to change so I have more peace and comfort. I want to like myself more. I want others, including God, to like me more. The problem is, I have to wrestle with whether or not the person I want to become is really the person God wants me to become.

The second topic we looked at has to do with who we are. We are created. The Bible is clear that it is the creator who defines us. We are dependent. If God is not changing us, we simply do not have the ability to change. We are revelation receivers. God created us to hear Him and what He has to teach and tell us. Part of what He tells us is who we really are. To know who we are and who we are to become means listening carefully to God in Scripture, as Scripture is explained (sermons, teaching times, etc.) God has created us to listen. We are to listen to Him and to those He brings into our lives. We are communal. We need each other. Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 makes very clear how much we need others in our lives. The story of the Good Samaritan also tells us how much we need others, and also how God intends us to be involved in the lives of those around us. We have too many blind spots if we are alone. We can not know ourselves fully and honestly if we live in isolation.

Lastly, we have the things we need to be the people God is preparing and calling us to become. We have the righteousness He has earned for us. We cannot add anything to it. We do not need to. If we accept the reality of this passive righteousness we are liberated to honestly look and learn who we are. In my own life doing a spiritual and moral inventory was life changing and freed me to look at who I am over the course of my life and what God is making clear He wants to do in and through me. I do not have to be afraid of what I will see in the mirror. I do not have to look away as others hold the mirror up for me to see. Jesus has done the hard work of redeeming me. Now I can do the work of living through His gift of grace and forgiveness. I can see Jesus' love in the midst of His hard and painful work of showing me who I am so that I can become the man He intends for me to be. This is a life of honest self examination, repentance, and also of change.

I am learning who Jesus wants me to be. I am seeing more of who I really am. I am amazed that through this all He loves me enough to stay with me and to give me the faith to stay on the journey.