"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have an understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
Tonight the "good thing" that comes to mind is freedom.
One of the ways in which Satan keeps us, keeps me from moving forward is bondage. I find myself bound by my past mistakes. I am bound by the replay of the garbage I tell myself. I am bound by fear, most of it imaginary.
I'm generally not very nice to myself. The way in which I talk to myself and treat myself is a far cry from the way I would treate or talk to others. I have terrible guilt and shame complexes. For most of my life, I feel as though I have been living according to a Catholic ideal - doing good deeds to try to make up for the bad that I've done. God never said I had to do that; I impose that idea and practice upon myself.
As a result, I live a very unfulfilling life. Yes, I am dutiful, and yes, I am supportive and encouraging of others, but I am not very fulfilled at all. Yes, it makes me feel good to do for others, but no, I am not accomplishing anything that I personally want to accomplish. In theory that sounds ok - living an others-oriented life, but because it feels as though there is a hole, it is not ok.
Actively sharing my faith - loving others AND rolling guilt, shame, worry, fear, anger, etc, off my shoulders onto God's helps me to understand every good thing that God wants for me. He does not want me to walk around feeling guilty and ashamed. He wants me to live a joy-filled life of love. He wants me to use everything I have and am to glorify Him. That's why I was created.
So how does the sharing of my faith lead me to freedom? For one, it shifts the focus from myself to someone else. It shifts my focus to God and what He has done for me/us, and it shifts my focus onto the person in front of me. It's not about me. I'm not thinking about, worrying about, or stressing over myself, which seems to be the center of trouble when it comes to depression.
I just really love the latter half of that verse: , , , "you will have an understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Oh, how I would love to really understand every good thing. It seems like most mornings, I sit on the floor and whine to God about all that is on my mind and all that is making me upset. Wouldn't it be lovely to spend my minutes in prayer celebrating every good thing. Of course, that line of thinking is up to me. I choose what I want to focus on. I choose whether or not to fret or send those worries on down the road. The choice is up to me. It's time to not only actively LIVE my faith but share it as well.
If two of us are committed to sharing our faith, we encourage one another. We leave no room for Satan to enter in and bind us. And the more we share, the larger the circle gets until Satan can't penetrate the circle.
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