Tag: character

“Self-denial is incomprehensible to our culture”

But God wants us to know and reflect his pure love 

Psalm 103:7 The Lord revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel.

Litany of Penitence 4:

For our sexual impurity, our exploitation of other people,

And our failure to give of ourselves in love;

Lord, have mercy upon us:

For we have sinned against you.

What do you think of the heading to this post, from last Sunday’s sermon by Kevin Antlitz? (You can listen to the context of his statement here (Feb 25): we choose to say no to ourselves so we can say yes to God and to those we love and care for. How do you embrace self-denial personally?

O Love that will not let me go, sung by Dana Masters and Kristyn Getty

I trace the rainbow through the rain … Bray Head, Ireland, March 2023

But the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with his love

Romans 5:1-5 … Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Undeserved privilege. That sounds good. Health, wealth, and happiness, right?

Oops—no. Problems and trials. Confidence and joy. Endurance. Character. Hope. God’s glory.

They all go together?

Wait—what happened to health, wealth, and happiness? Isn’t God supposed to bless me, if I have enough faith?

Sorry to pop this balloon. Jesus never offered health, wealth and happiness. He did promise to walk WITH us through our problems and trials.

This is Paul talking. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 and 11:23-33. Paul earned the right to talk about confidence and joy in the face of problems and trials. He knew God’s precious love for him was not connected to comfort. He’s the guy who sang praises to God after he was beaten and clamped in the stocks.

No pat answers here. No bandaids. I love comfort. Don’t you? So I’m going to sit with this for a while.

Shutterstock: GoodIdeas