Spirituality

There are many contradictions in life and none more easily seen than when contrasting how God teaches us to live by His Word, the Bible, and how we are taught in the world, the school of hard knocks.

For instance the classic for me was to 'look after number one', because nobody else was going to look after me. How different this is compared to God’s way where He says, look after others and He will look after us. Another example is that Jesus taught the disciples not to worry about what they would wear, about food and shelter, but just “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you” (Mathew 6:25-34).

In “every day modern life” we tend to live flat out because things have to be done 'now'. We are tired, stressed, impatient, selfish and barge our way forward with all the worries of the world on our shoulders. We have downers to help us sleep, uppers to wake us up, coffee for the kick start in the morning, beer at lunch to soothe the stress and wine at night to help us wind down. The more we live this way, stress abounds and I have found it leads to ill health, indecisiveness and lack in ones life.

What does Jesus say in (Mathew 6:25-34), “Don’t worry”? Ten times in this passage He says don’t worry!! Why?

I have found that if we simply stop living this way for a while, (Romans 12:1-2) and put our trust in God, then life changes for the better. Through right living, He can and will bless us daily in every area. Take some time and read these passages in the Bible. Psalm 1, Joshua 1 and Jeremiah 17:5-8, and begin to see God’s Kingdom Principles, and you will find out that you can TEST God to see if He has integrity. God is God and He honours His Word. The Bible is God’s Word. If you read Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 again, you will find a great challenge, one which my wife and I have taken up and we can verify that God is a God of integrity and He does honour His word.

How does God want us to live? When we read the Bible there are lots of rules and regulations and lots of things we do not understand. The Bible can seem so complicated. The more I read though, the more I understand that because of my weak nature, my sinful desires, the more I realise it is so hard to do the right thing.

What are my standards of living for today ? Where do the limits begin and end? Well I don’t drink or swear anymore, but can I steal that pen from work, do I use the bosses phone behind his back, do I work hard or do I bludge for the day? Can I justifiably get angry with my wife and kids and carry on as if nothing is wrong, even when I know I am going against God’s will?

I believe that is why Jesus did and could sum up all these rules and regulations into 2 great commandments. We read them in Mathew 22: 37-40. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandment hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus said to love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Why you might be asking? Look what the Bible says!! God has written His laws on our hearts (Ps.37:31, Jer.31:33, 2 Cor.3:3 ) and has given us a conscience. When we follow our conscience we will inevitably begin to follow God and His Ways. Life begins to get better when you put other people first. Life gets better when you love God, others and yourself. Life gets better when you realise that you aren't the most important person in the world. Care for someone, help someone, give something to someone without expecting anything back. Try it, try Gods way, prove it for yourself.

It is by living with this very attitude of love for God and others and oneself, that will bring us more in tune with God and more out of tune with the world and its misdeeds. Look at it this way; love gives, but selfishness takes. Love cares for others but self looks after me. If you think about these two examples, which do you think is the better way to live?

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