Tag: relationships

Light, Life, Goodness & The Fight Against Evil

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I have been thinking about this verse all week:

Which had me thinking on life, building, being vs. destroying, destruction. Which led me to a great little rabbit trail. Follow along…

It started with the Hillsdale President (Larry Arnns) who spoke these words at Charlie Kirk’s Memorial,

“There’s a ladder that reaches up toward God. At the bottom are the ordinary good things around us everywhere. If we can call them by their names, they have being. The beings of the good things are figments of God… A good thing is a thing that has being.”

I found that Arnns’ conclusions are drawn from the works of Augustine (400 AD ish) and when I looked into his writings on this topic, I saw they could be summarized:

Evil has no life of its own; it is only the twisting or absence of the good that God creates.

See, we are in good Company as Truth Dwellers….because that summary led me to C.S. Lewis’ words in Mere Christianity,

“Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is only spoiled goodness. And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled. … Evil is a parasite, not an original thing.”

These are such deep thoughts. I’ve been pondering them deeply. It’s hard to even put it all into words so I’m grateful other men have done it for me. 🙂

So, evil is a corruption of what is good. It cannot create . It doesn’t build, it destroys. It cannot stand on its own. Evil depends on good to exist.

This contrast is seen everywhere right now.

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The Longing to Belong

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Belonging Gives Rest

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:19 

“And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ” Romans 1:6

At our core, we long for belonging. This longing transcends culture, status, and age; it’s woven into our very being.  Yet Scripture tells us that we do not belong to this world.  And when we seek to belong in the world – through people, subcultures, niches, or worldly pursuits – we will inevitably find them insufficient to fulfill our longings.  Why?  Because first and foremost, we were created to belong to Christ. In Christ. With Christ. 

Once we settle this truth deep in our hearts and minds – that our ultimate place of belonging is in Christ, it changes everything.  We can stop searching for fulfillment, validation, assurance, identity, and affirmation in anything and everything.  We can simply abide in Christ and be His beloved child, wherever we are, whoever we are with.  In Christ, we find all we need.  Our restless souls can finally be at peace, secure in being known, seen, and loved by Him. The search is over.  In Him we find rest.

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Loving Others from A Pure Heart (Part 2)

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Continuing on from previous post …

… for you have been born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable through the living and enduring word of God….. therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. I Peter 1:23, 2:1-3

We must rid ourselves of these types of heart thoughts (malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander)! And instead crave spiritual milk: Desire Him and His Spirit. Desire to know Him better through His Word. Desire to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds“. Desire to be pure and true like Him. Desire to give Him the honor He deserves… more than we desire honor for ourselves that we don’t deserve. Desire what HE says is best more than what’s easy or what feels best.

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Loving Others from a Pure Heart

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Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart. I Peter 1:22

Thinking more about how to fight discouragement… I am realizing how easy it is to be discouraged by people and how very quickly we can grow weary in our relationships. We are all flawed, walking through our own trials and fighting our own battles with different personalities, communication skills, and habits. It is only by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in us that we can have success in loving others with a pure heart and genuine love.

So what do we do when we realize we are people-weary? Muttering negative comments about others to ourselves or closest friends, even if we have a loving smile and kind spoken words? Avoiding people? Desiring distance until they’ve made some progress in weak areas? Being resentful of how much we’ve loved others or done for them that has been unreciprocated? Feeling superior because we see what they need to do to have positive changes in their life and they just aren’t doing it? Desiring to speak ill of them to mutual friends?

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Practical Steps to Pursue Unity and Overcome Divisive Spirits

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Relationships are the most important thing the Lord has gifted us. A relationship with Him first and foremost and then relationships with each other.

Anybody who has been in any sort of group setting…. especially a church, or a group that is together to do good or pursue the Lord… knows there will always be hard dynamics to overcome. It is almost inevitable that in time a divisive spirit will enter. Often it enters at what feels is THE worst possible time. Recently I was seeking wisdom on how to pursue unity and rise above divisiveness and I had a difficult time finding some practical help. But the Lord brought to mind a blog I wrote many years ago on Pursuing Unity. So taking those lessons He started teaching us years ago and expanding on it… here are some practical tips to pursue unity, overcome divisive spirits, and walk-out hard relationship dynamics in a Godly way.

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