"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
2 Corinthians 3:18
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
2 Corinthians 3:18
This may turn out to be a bit of an arrogant rant. I hope not though. I'm currently working on how to 'practicalise' these verses. It's not coming easy though. It's also hard because I do often feel isolated, as one who does not want to 'build sand castles' so to speak, in a culture that worships decadence and lust, and seeks marriage as the pinnacle of human achievement. But oh, wretched girl that I am, I struggle so much to maintain purity - to kill the sin that so offends God.
To be a biblical woman in a culture like ours is a radical act. I recently heard on Christian radio a preacher denounce Britain as 'godless'. No, he wasn't one of those doom and gloom guys, I think he was actually quite a good teacher, an American guy. I always like hearing what people on the outside think of my culture - the eye cannot always see itself after all. It makes me sit up and think about things that I often take for granted here as being normal, makes me think more objectively about what I accept as being okay "because everyone does it".
Anyway, lately I've been massively struck by how pathetic we are as a culture; how blinded by our wealth we are. In what we term to be a 'recession', I've just been out and spent £20 on a meal with friends. As rich as we are we don't give our wealth away - and tragically the church, we, I as a Christian tend to reflect this wastefulness. How I focus more on who I would like my marriage partner to be than on the suffering and lost.
I'm not saying we should express 'first world guilt' and become modern day Gandhis, Dalai Lamas or even Martin Luther Kings. I'm looking at reflecting Jesus as Hebrews 12:2 reminds me, focusing on Jesus - dying to myself, scorning shame, becoming more like Jesus everday.
The practical aspect of this? I don't even know right now. Should I feed the homeless? Should I keep my head down and work hard at my job? Get even more involved in church activities? I can't just do more. I don't even think I do enough of what I already do!!
But I rejoice, because I have a God who is Sovereign, carving out the way, showing me where I should go. Yeah. I'm being transformed into his likeness, not conformed into the world's likeness. Double yeah. There's no human effort I can make to change the world - the only effort needed He's already done through the Son's sacrifice for me on the cross. Get in! He is still with me; His Holy Spirit is with me in my weakness and my strength (2 Cor 12:9), Booya! He is growing me, and changing me, and enabling me to rejoice, not in what I see but in the life I live by faith. Huzzah! Good news indeed.
