being righteous, living righteously

Is there a difference between being righteous (our legal status before God) and living righteously i.e. our daily conduct? 

Even though God grants us total righteousness (perfect legal standing) before Him in Christ, he still desires us to ¹live righteously. 

It is only through ¹righteous living we are most aligned and in tune with God ⁵practically. We love others as we are designed to, and best put Him on display - i.e. honor and glorify Him - through loving actions toward others. But these actions do not save us. 

He designed us to be aligned with his will in our everyday conduct, so we might 

1. experience more of Him and His love and 

2. best honor and glorify Him before others. 

3. Advance His ⁵kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

These are the desired outcomes of the good standing He has fully secured for us and assigned to us in Christ. 

God grants us right legal standing, so we might live right. We don't live right to enhance our legal standing with Him (this has already been settled in and by Christ), but so we might partake of Him more fully in our everyday lives. 

He wants us to live righteously so that we might more fully partake of and participate in His love, life, and joy, and pass it on to others more effectively. This brings more attention (honor) to Him, so others might be drawn to Him through us and thereby also find in Him fullness of life by means of our righteous conduct. This advances and establishes His righteous ⁵reign on earth.

The idea of being made right so we would live right is expressed in several places in scripture, but most often and clearly in Paul's letter to the Romans.

‭‭Romans 6:4 ESV‬‬

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

‭‭Romans 7:4 ESV‬‬

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (i.e. we are perfectly right with God in Christ). For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us..." - Rom ‭8:1‭-‬5‬

Each of the above 3 passages shows that the desired outcome of God making us right with Him (i.e. righteous before Him legally) is that we might live righteously. 

In fact, in several of Paul's letters (Ephesians, Colossians, ³Hebrews and Romans) the first part of these letters lays out what God has done for us regarding our unrighteous status - i.e. He has made us righteous in and through Christ.  The remaining part of each letter addresses how we are to conduct our lives in light of this and in response to it.

This is clearest in the entire book of Romans, where the first 11 chapters elaborate on our alienation from God and what He has done to restore us in Christ - i.e. the explanation of the good news (gospel). Then, from chapter 12 on, it shifts to how we conduct ourselves in light of this good news. 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, (i.e. in light of what I have said up to this point regarding our dilemma and God's solution) to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Rom 12:1

The ending phrase "spiritual worship" indicates this is a heartfelt response, not a rigid duty or legal requirement. A response to what? To God providing the righteousness, we must have to be in good standing with the Father, by assigning Christ's perfect standing with the Father to us.

Did only Paul address this? No, Peter, James, and John did as well.

"When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness i.e. in our everyday conduct..." - 1 Pet 2:23-24

This connection by multiple writers isn't a coincidence. Righteous living must always flow out of our righteous standing with God (because we could never meet the requirements of living a perfectly righteous life unaided) i.e. righteous living will and must always flow out of a righteous standing before God. If it does not - if there is no fruit of righteous living - the scriptures call us to make sure we are truly His child. This is clearly implied and stated explicitly in the above and other passages. So much so that scripture tells us if how we live has not changed since we came to Christ, we need to be sure we truly know Him. 

For a further discussion on being right vs living right click here

What is the good news? click here

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Footnotes: 

¹What exactly is righteous living or living righteously? When our conduct is perfectly aligned with God's ⁴design and will.

And what is God's design (will) for us and all creation? That in everything we do and say we honor and glorify him. And in doing so, we also experience our greatest significance - glory. 

And how do we best honor and glorify him? By loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. Love (i.e. relationship) is the driving force of righteous conduct. Carrying out these commandments or living righteously - i.e. treating others as we wish to be treated - is the result. 

God's love for us is first, and our responding back to him in love is the result. We will not value or love God above all others until we grasp and experience his value of or love for us. 

God is the initiator and source of love. If we are not plugged into Him and thereby drawing strength from Him, we can never be loving as we were designed to be. When we see and experience his love, we "light up," come to life, bear fruit, and become the true bearers of His image as we were created to be.  

God is the power supply, we are the conduits. He is the treasure, we are jars of clay. He is the vine, we are the branches.

Which comes first, our valuing and loving Him or Him valuing and loving us? We love him because he first loved us.

³There is good reason to believe Paul dictated the book of Hebrews to Luke, who wrote it. The way the letter flows and unfolds - the thorough knowledge of the OT - is characteristic of other letters by Paul (a well-studied Jewish Pharisee), not someone who is a Greek Gentile such as Luke. 

But the style and elegance of the Greek used in the book is indicative of Luke also seen in Acts and Lukes gospel. So some suggest Hebrews was a collaboration between Paul and Luke. 

There are other reasons some believe Paul dictated it. Primarily because, as far as we know, all but one of Paul's letters (including Hebrews) was dictated. Possibly because of poor eyesight from his being blinded by beholding Christ on the road to Damascus.

Also Luke was a highly educated Greek national and medical doctor, fluent in "high" Greek. 

Hebrews was written with grammatical precision, using several words unique to the book of Hebrews. This was uncharacteristic of Paul's other letters but similar to the gospel of Luke. For these reasons, some think Paul didn't write it but dictated it to Luke. Explaining why it has characteristics of both Paul and Luke. The fact that he considered himself the apostle to the Gentile adds even more credibility to this view. 

It is also believed Paul deliberately did not identify as the author since he was considered the apostle to the Gentiles and not looked upon favorably by the Judaizers from Jewish circles within the church. 

Some suggest Paul deliberately left his name off to avoid any resistance to the letters' reception and wide circulation within the Jewish community at large. After all, why would the apostle to the Gentiles be writing a letter to Hebrews?  

But Paul's love for his own people was clearly expressed in Romans chapter 9. Knowing this, it would make perfect sense that he still had an intense desire to reach his people even though God had called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. 

⁴this is given either as a direct order in writing, verbally, and by Christ's example - all of which are recorded in scripture.

⁵and advance His kingdom most. Our actions matter, either advancing or hindering God's kingdom. 

When we are weak we are strong

God's power is perfected in our weakness. If we do not understand this we will interpret his guidance as ¹abandonment.

Do we have any examples to support this in scripture? Not only do we have several examples, but the ultimate example by the most significant person who ever walked the earth.

What did the Spirit do after the public announcement of Christ's ministry? He led him into the wilderness to be tested.

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." - Mat 4:1

It wasn't until after this that Christ went forth in power to share the good news of His coming kingdom.

If this was necessary for Christ how much more so for us?

Paul tells us that God's power is perfected in our struggles and weakness (2 Cor 12:8-9). God even sent a messenger of Satan to harass him, not unlike God allowing Satan to inflict suffering on Job. God was in charge in both cases. If we do not understand this we will interpret God's directing us into periods of testing as ¹abandonment.

We usually don't feel like God is with us when we are in the wilderness, do we? It is  usually lonely and often confusing. We are tempted to ask God, "where are you?! Why have you ¹left me?!

Yet Christ himself learned obedience through the things He suffered. If this was necessary for Christ, the perfect Son of God and man, why would or should it be different for us who are far from perfect? 

Our need to learn to trust the Father is greater than Christ's - though His trust in the Father was tested far more than ours will likely ever be. 

"Therefore...let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb 12:1-2

If we do not understand that God is in the test - working by and through it for our spiritual advancement - we will not be able to "count it all joy" as James exhorts, when we go through hard times. We will be unstable and tossed about in and by our distrust.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith (trust) produces steadfastness. 

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man (who trusts God one moment and doubts Hin the next), unstable in all his ways." - James 1:2-8

For a discussion on why faith is a fight click here. 
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¹Matthew 27:46 ESV‬‬
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

legitimate vs illegitimate business

What distinguishes a legitimate enterprise or business from an illegitimate one? 

Being ¹service driven vs. solely profit-driven.

There is nothing wrong with profit in itself, but when profit becomes the ²sole motive, serving others becomes irrelevant or secondary at best and usually leads to ⁴harming others. This is a disservice and the opposite of serving others.

When an enterprise is focused on ²serving others we are loving our neighbors and helping them flourish. The result is that the "consumer" ²benefits. 

We are dependent on certain things to not only survive but to flourish to our maximum capacity. To provide those things to honor of God and for the benefit of our fellow man or woman is to serve both God and humankind.

If we are diligent in serving others, it often results in our economic benefit as well, i.e. profit. We "win" by helping others "win." But serving others is and should always be our focus, regardless. 

As believers, this is carrying out the commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves i.e. treating others the way we would like to be treated. If we gain (profit) in this exercise, this is a good thing, not bad i.e. it is not exploiting our fellow man or the planet, as ⁵some assert, but the possible (though not automatic) fruit of serving them.  

The most successful enterprises are those that find a ¹legitimate ³need of others and meet it better than anyone else. The greater the need, the greater the service provided. The greater the service, the greater the opportunity for profit if we are diligent. 

For a discussion on sowing and reaping click here. 

For a discussion on socialism vs capitalism click here. 

For a discussion on doing things with excellence click here. 

For a discussion on whether the pursuit of money is ever legit click here.

For a discussion on what exactly money is click here. 

For a discussion on cryptocurrency, click here. 

For a discussion on giving as we have received, click here

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Footnotes:

¹The nature of the need is also vital in determining the legitimacy of the enterprise or service e.g. providing healthy food vs junk food is a legitimate endeavor. Providing a want such as junk food (or pornography, or abortions etc) simply because there is a demand for it is not. There may be large profits in these kinds of offers, but if an offer is contrary to God's design it is ultimately destructive and a disservice to others and humanity at large regardless of how great the demand or profit.

²Even when profit becomes the primary motive, serving others becomes secondary, which also ultimately leads to people's ⁴harm and the opposite of serving others.

Serving others is good for both the provider and the consumer. This is a "win-win" scenario. 

³We must distinguish between needs and wants. Needs are vital to our existence and flourishing. Wants, no matter how great, are merely what we desire but will not result in our perishing if we can't acquire them i.e. they are not essential to our existence but may only be for greater convenience and comfort versus greater fruitfulness i.e. productivity. 

We are called to be productive (fruitful). Anything that enables us to do so is legitimate. Helping others be more efficient so they have more time to be more productive is a legitimate endeavor. 

This is our initial mandate in the Old Testament:

‭‭Genesis 1:28-30 

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

This is repeated in the New Testament: 

‭‭John 15:5...

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing... 

 

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples...

 

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, - regarding advancing God's rule (kingdom) of love - he may give it to you. 

⁴Such as using corn syrup in foods as a sweetener because it is cheaper and adds more to the bottom line even though it's harmful to us.

⁵Ayn Rand asserted capitalism and altruism are opposites and do not mix i.e. in a true free market system we can not benefit (win) by helping others benefit (win). 

Click here for a 2-minute video of her explaining worldview. 

However, as an atheist, she didn't understand the dynamic of being empowered to love others when we know we are fully loved. 

She interpreted altruism as a giving away of our dignity - or others taking it from us - and not an expression of the dignity we derive from God, the eternal overflowing fountain of love. She saw altruism only as others taking from us by force vs our freely, gladly, and willingly giving to others out of our fullness of receiving all things from our Creator. A subtle but vital distinction. 

This distinguishes God's Kingdom from communism. This also reveals how the progressive side of the church is unwittingly sympathetic to communism, which is vastly different from advancing God's kingdom by loving our neighbor. 

Givers vs takers

For a discussion on how we are designed to be givers and not takers click here.

When service is our primary focus - but profit is also desired

(though not primary) - this puts innovation front and center. It causes us to continually look for creative ways to meet the unmet needs of our fellow humans and how to also generate the necessary funding to continue to do so. 

Often, but not always, the copycats of legitimate and successful innovation are driven purely by profit, not necessarily how to better serve humanity. 

Exchanging energy via currency?

Currency is a recognized media of value (i.e. everyone agrees on its value) that we exchange our labor/energy for (just think electrical current i.e. Current-cy). Because of this agreement everyone is willing to accept it in exchange for their labor.

We expend energy through labor to create things (or provide direct services to others) that people want or need.

We are given currency (portable, transferable, stored labor/energy) in exchange for that labor, which we can then use to acquire goods and services others labor to produce; goods and services we provide or produce that others need or want but do not have the time, skills, or interest to directly produce or labor for. 

As a society, we can more easily benefit mutually from the skills, talent, and labor (and production) of an almost unlimited number of others without having to barter by using a universally accepted ¹medium of exchange - of portable and transferable energy (i.e.currency) - 

For example, if I am a dentist and you do landscaping, I can provide dental work for you in exchange for landscaping. This works fine but only if I need landscaping and you need dental work, i.e. barter is limited to the specific things we EACH offer or need at the time that we need it.

A currency, however, is a universally accepted media of transferring your and my labor/energy. This means everybody will accept it as payment for their labor/energy and also offer it to others for the goods or services their labor/energy produces. So the use of currency is not limited to any one particular service - such as dental work - or product needed, but is unlimited in how it can be transferred and used. 

When we give currency to another, we give transportable/transferable energy/labor through a media of exchange or currency the other party agrees to accept from us. This is a mutually beneficial transaction and relationship, i.e. what some call a "win-win" scenario. 

Our energy is expended and exchanged for transportable/ transferable currency, which they in turn can exchange for goods and services created by the labor/energy of others, which they can also convert to currency.

Currency is simply a universally accepted, portable, and easily transferable media of exchanging our energy/labor (and the fruits of it) with each other whenever and wherever we need to.

Who is in control?

Here's the part most don't understand. If a central authority, such as a government, issues and therefore controls the currency (money) - such as our current fiat currency or the proposed ³CBDC - this in effect is a means of controlling the people who labor for it. 

If no Central authority is necessary to verify the value of a currency but its verification is distributed evenly through a decentralized network that no one controls (or you could say the laborers "control" together via a network) then a central authority is no longer needed. 

But most importantly, central control is no longer possible. The verification of the value of the currency is now in the hands of "we the people" and not with any single central institution or person.

What about profit? Is it good or bad?

Legitimate profit is merely surplus energy created through innovation, efficiency, and hard work. 

Innovation occurs when the laborer finds an area of demand/need/want through their ingenuity/creativity and supplies that want or need more efficiently than others (or exclusively before anyone else does).  

The basic engine that drives commerce is supply and demand. The laborer/innovator supplies what others need, want, or demand. 

Commerce is nothing more than the exchange of goods and services - through currency - that are needed and desired by others.

To provide goods and services that are needed or wanted is not taking advantage of people but actually serving them. It is treating them with value/care. In short, productivity does not necessarily involve greed. It can be driven by a desire to serve others - to treat them as we wish to be treated; to love our neighbors as ourselves. In so doing, we are carrying out the 2nd greatest commandment in the Bible. 

When profit is generated through deception or abuse of resources, this is not a natural or inherent part of profit-making but the abuse of it. There is nothing inherently wrong with profit or making it (i.e. efficiently, diligently, and creativity meeting the wants/needs of consumers better than other competitors/ providers) but only the abuse of it. 

Often, legitimate profit-making and abuse of it are mixed together as if they are one and the same. They are not. To shut down profit-making because it is abused is not the solution to the actual abuse. It would be equivalent to docking a sailboat, which is more efficient than using a row boat because the sailboat captain is always drunk and constantly wrecking the ship, causing harm or damage to others. The sailboat is not the problem, the captain steering the boat is.

Any economic system or endeavor can be (and often is) corrupted and abused simply because humanity is broken, i.e. the problem is not necessarily the means of doing commerce. We must separate and distinguish the mechanism from the abuse of it. 

All systems are subject to abuse, not necessarily because this is inherent within the system, but because of human nature's inclination to take advantage of others solely for their own benefit, i.e. selfishness vs service.

Some systems are more conducive to abuse than others. Systems that have centralized power (such as ²socialism and communism) tend to be abused most because of the selfish inclination of humanity. As the saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

If you put the control of commerce in the hands of a centralized authority, abuse inevitably occurs because of our inherent inclination to selfishishness. The more power and control someone has - and the fewer there are who have it - the more likely this abuse occurs. 

This is why our system of government was set up with a separation of powers and various checks and balances. You could say power within our system is decentralized. The founders understood the corruption of centralized power firsthand through tyrannical British rule.  This resulted in the action and concern in the American colonies of "taxation without representation."

Large profits are not necessarily the result of this corruption but may simply be the fruit of greater energy, efficiency, and innovation (creativity) than others i.e. not necessarily or automatically the fruit of exploiting the consumer. 

To say it simply, the bigger and the better the job you do the more you are rewarded. Great profit can simply be that you have made a larger number of people happier by providing what they want or need better - more efficiently and less expensive- than anyone else.

The danger of centralized control.

When you can devalue the currency by creating additional currency out of thin air, you are in effect unknowingly (to the users of the currency) taking (stealing) people's energy to pad your own pocket by diluting the value of the currency others labored for e.g. to double the money supply is the equivalent of doubling the number of hours of labor required to generate the same earnings. Without an honest currency/money system, you have legalized theft. 

And as long as there are those allowed to steal from you without your knowledge and go unchecked, they will continue to do so by whatever means possible (through deception or keeping others in the dark, thereby controlling the narrative via information outlets on how money works) in order to maintain power and control over others, i.e. over our labor/energy/time etc. 

This is why the Federal Reserve system must be eliminated. It is taking the fruits of our labor/energy through deception and using it to advance the agenda of those who control the system - which is not necessarily or usually the consumers agenda. This is not only taking advantage of the producer/worker but increasing their control over others i.e. You and I. 

The media of exchange that best provides honest money is cryptocurrency. For a discussion on why click here.
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¹One of the oldest and most common media of exchange has been gold and silver. Originally in America, we used gold and silver coins (A "dollar" was an ounce of silver. A quarter was a quarter ounce and a dime was 1/10 an ounce). The paper dollar was backed by gold or silver and could be turned in for the amount of gold or silver the "bill" designated i.e.  5 "dollar bill" or 10 dollars or a 100 etc. Eventually, we went to paper certificates of deposit that were backed by silver. Now it is merely currency by fiat (law) and backed by nothing (in fact our present currency is debt based). We use it because it is required by law i.e. it is legal tender, also known as fiat (money by degree or law).  

This doesn't mean we can not use other forms of exchange if we mutually agree. That is up to the buyer and seller of goods or services. We are free to pay each other with whatever we agree to. This means you only have to use "legal tender" to pay the government, i.e. taxes. And they will only pay you with it and not some other currency such as Euros, Yen, British pounds, or a ³true decentralized cryptocurrency, etc. 

A currency can be any universally recognized media. Because of the devaluation of the paper dollar through excess spending and printing more to cover the nation's increasing debt, more are turning to privately created digital currency known as cryptocurrency. ³True cryptocurrency has a limited number of coins created, resulting in them increasing in value against fiat currency through supply and demand, as their use becomes more widely accepted. A set number of coins does not allow them to be devalued (diluted) by constantly creating additional new coins (like we do now with paper money and every other "developed" country using fiat currency).

²those who promote such systems pretend benevolence (and maybe even naively believe it's more fair) when in fact they seek power and control (whether consciously or not… they argue someone has to run the show to prevent fraud.  Ironic when you consider the whole current fiat money system is legalized theft).

The appeal to the consumer is I'm promised I'll be cared for regardless of whether I work for it or not, by those who promote (and control) distribution. This promise is the primary way they keep us in the system and under their control. 

³CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) is not decentralized or has a set number of "coins" issued. It is therefore not true cryptocurrency. I would avoid it at all costs. There is a clear indication it will actually increase the central authorities' control over every part of our lives.

For a further discussion on the difference between controlled CBDC and true cryptocurrency click here.

For a further discussion on the difference between socialism and capitalism, click here.

For further discussion on the difference between a legitimate and illegitimate endeavor or business click here.

If interested in acquiring precious medals at 12 to 17% below standard dealers' cost click here.

To take advantage of the rapidly growing cryptocurrency market email us at bigdeal70@pm.me 

We are part of a rapidly expanding cryptocurrency exchange that is making it easier to interface our current fiat system with truly decentralized cryptocurrency. 

Whoever is not with me is against me

Every decision we make is a choice between doing something ¹God's way or my way - doing things to advance God's agenda (kingdom) or mine.  

Christ said it this way, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." 

There appears to be no in-between. This sounds pretty harsh until we dig in a little more.

Ultimately, the key underlying difference between God's way and ours is who do we depend on or trust ²more in our choices and the actions we take - God or ourselves?

 
Choosing our way feels natural and normal, i.e. it's our default setting. It's not necessarily conscious because it's all we know. It seems harmless and doesn't feel like a choice against God. 

But if we are designed to know and love God with all we are and have and in turn put Him on display in all we say and do - thereby making Him known - but do not, are we not rebels and enemies of God? Do all things for the glory of God, love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and be holy because God is holy is not hyperbole or casual statements. It is who God made us to be.

If God is the source of life, love, and all things, to take and use what God has created to advance our own designs and purposes without consideration of God's ³designs and purposes in giving us all things is an act of rebellion against God. It's not that God is a die-hard and doesn't want us to enjoy life. It is because he is life and there is no true and lasting joy apart from Him. 

Any joy we experience in life that is not in, by, or through Him is temporary. When we act to the contrary, our actions (or lack of action to honor Him) are saying to God - and anyone who knows and observes us - that God is irrelevant. When in fact He is just the opposite i.e. He is the most relevant and important being of all. To not act accordingly not only dishonors God for who He is, but it is living a lie that harms us and those we interact with. 

The reality is God is the most important being of all. Without Him, there would be nothing else i.e. all we are and have is from His hand.

Paul said it this way, "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." ‭‭Rom‬ ‭11:36‬ ‭

If we bristle at this, it only confirms how subtle and deep our rebellion runs.

But when we stop and consider our life, most give little to no thought as to why God gives us all that we have - i.e. we rarely consider what part God plays in why He does. Instead we should be asking why He gives us life, breath, air to breathe, health, our abilities (physical, mental, athletic, artistic etc.), food, sunlight, rain, sight, taste, smell, hearing, natural resources, etc. and how we can use what he provides to give Him rightful honor and thanks. 

Do you thank Him for all you are and have. If not, is this not an indication of rebellion towards Him who gives us all things?

This would be like our child misusing the things that we as parents have labored to acquire and provide, with little or no regard by them of our wishes as the parent. This can result in the child's harm and/or harm to others and often does (like when a child uses and wrecks their parent's car injuring themselves or others).

It's not that a loving parent doesn't want their child to enjoy and use what they provide. A loving parent loves their child and wants them to feel their love. They want what's best for them.   

But a loving parent also does not want their child to be ⁴harmed. And as a parent with much more life experience (i.e. a better understanding of good and evil if you will), they know us better than we do and how to better use and benefit from what they provide. 

With our heavenly parent, it is far more significant! He knows better than we do what is best for us. He is what is best because all things are by, though, for Him, which is also our greatest joy.

No matter how little we consider God as we go about our lives, the reality is all that we are and have not only comes from God but is maintained by him. Without God, nothing would be, including ourselves, with all the unique abilities we were born with. In reality we hate to acknowledge this. It grates against every fiber of our being because we do not want to be accountable to an all Supreme Being for our choices and actions. 

Considering what God wants is not only the right thing to do but is best for us and others. Who would know what is best for us and how to use what God provides better than Himself? Us!?! Unless, of course, you don't trust Him. And isn't that precisely the issue, our distrust?

We should always seek to use what he provides as He desires and directs. Not because he needs to be in charge (He already is) but because he knows what is best and wants that best for us.

For a discussion on why God allows evil click here and here.

For a discussion on why God loves rebels click here

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¹This was the essence of the choice presented to Adam (primarily) and Eve on whether to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

²And what exactly is it that we should trust? That God not only knows what is best but desires what is best for us. And what He desires He can fully accomplish, i.e. He's all-powerful. In short, we trust that God loves us and knows what is best better than we do and perfectly able to bring all this about.

³And what exactly are those designs? For us - His image bearers - to be the caretakers of His creation, and be fruitful and multiply. 

Why? So that we can enter into and partake of the good gifts of God and extend them to others. Our extending them to others enables us to more fully partake of who God is and designed us to be for His honor i.e. glory.

Why? Because God loves us and his creation and wants us to experience the joy of being in a relationship of love with Him like He has experienced from all eternity past between the Father and Son, in, through, and by the Spirit. i.e. He desires we partake of the joy and delight of receiving and giving love in the same way He does. 

For a fuller discussion on the above, click here. 

All that we are and have is designed and intended to aid us in participating in and experiencing the eternal joy and bliss between the Father and His Son in, through, and by the Spirit. We, however are rebellious creatures who use God's creation to do just the opposite, i.e. to attempt to be independent of God. If we persist He honors our choice along with the consequences. 

⁴This does not mean God will not allow us to experience short-term pain. He often does so we might experience long-term gain. 

Broken yet fully loved

We are far more ¹broken than we are willing to admit but also far more loved than we can ever imagine or hope for - or are usually willing to believe.

Why do we struggle to believe that we are both broken and fully loved at the same time?

We fear if someone knew ²all our faults they would reject us and no longer love us. Why? Because admitting to or being seen with all our flaws usually results in rejection. 

We so greatly long to be fully and deeply loved, we fear ³losing it if we ever find it. We believe it's better to never be loved than to powerfully experience love and lose it.

The more we know we are loved - regardless of our flaws - the more we can admit ("own") them - not only to the one who loves us but to ourselves as well. 

Why does love free us? We are no longer concerned that admitting our brokenness will result in rejection. We know we are loved regardless of how broken we are. 

Love is the fuel of growth and change. Why?

Admitting our faults to ourselves and others is vital to our maturing. 

We can't and won't fix something if we don't think it's broken. And we can't admit our brokenness until we know we will not be rejected for it. Once we feel safe to admit our brokenness, we can be more honest with ourselves (and others) about our shortcomings.

We can admit our faults only to the extent we know we are loved despite them.

When we are loved in ⁴this way we desire to bring joy and honor to the only One who loves us this way. We delight in doing all we can to honor them. When this is for God, He in turn feels honored to be in a relationship with us.

For a discussion on loving yourself click here and here.

For a discussion on what it means to be broken click here. 

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¹We are not broken in the sense that we no longer have natural abilities, talents, or resources but in how we use these, i.e. do we use them to self-comfort instead of bringing comfort to others as we were *designed to?

Self-comforting is so common it is considered normal, not broken. We not only embrace it but applaud others who do this as well. "Loving ourselves" has become a cultural mantra in the West when it is actually the primary evidence and expression of brokenness. 

Our need to love ourselves is only because we have rejected God, the very source of love. How? Whenever we look to or go to something other than God for love, we are telling God we can do better at finding and experiencing love on our own than we can from Him, when in fact only God is the source of love, life, and all things. 

*We are in God's image, designed to be like God, which is to be other-focused - i.e. to give, not take. The more we give, the more we are like God, and the more we partake of and experience Him, i.e. experience love flowing to and through us to others.

We justify getting or taking because we think it will make us happy, more complete, and whole. Short-term it may, but the ultimate solution to our need for love is not taking it but receiving it from the Source, which enables us to pass it on to others. 

God is primarily what we need, but we refuse to receive what he offers, i.e. His infinite affections offered to us in and through His Son Jesus.

We reach the highest level of our design - God's likeness - when we give. But not to get but simply for the joy of seeing others receive life through us. And we can only give as God does when we are receiving love from the One who is the ultimate source of love, God himself. 

²This is what makes our family of origin so unique and significant. No one sees our flaws and strengths as much or as well as family. If we come from a loving family, this is where we feel safest... Or "more at home" to use a common expression. If we come from an unloving family, this is why for some thoughts of family are most painful. And also why we may fear letting others see us the way we truly are. 

³This approach believes you can't lose what you never had to begin with.

There is a saying that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.

But what if you never love again? All you have is the painful memory of not having something (love) you still need and long for. Is this not the essence of hell itself? I'm not suggesting we avoid love for fear of never experiencing it again. I am saying no human can love us in the way we are designed for, i.e. perfectly and continuously loved, without interruption. Only God is perfect, perpetual, and endless love. 

⁴God alone consistently loves us in this way. He alone is perfect and infinite love.

God wants us to want Him, not force us to

God wants us to pursue Him only if we want to. God never forces us to but helps us see the importance and necessity of our pursuit through our mistakes, failures, struggles, and pain, as well as our successes. 

Whenever we pursue things other than (or outside of) God, we find they leave us empty and create problems. 

They also causes us to feel distant from God, resulting in us missing and longing for more of his presence. This drives us to return and pursue Him more faithfully so we might experience him and his infinite love again more fully. 

As we partake of his presence, we long for it more and when it's absent, this increases our desire to avoid whatever alienates us from Him and creates a sense of His absence.

The saying goes that you can lead a horse to water but cannot make it drink. While God never forces us to pursue him He knows the best way to help us see the need for him. To continue with the analogy, He doesn't make us drink but he does know how to salt our oats. 

We may not always know why we suffer or the specific benefit we will gain from it at that time - i.e. if we will ever see any immediate or long term circumstantial benefit, or gain anything at all in this life - but we know the general reason is so we might draw closer to and partake of Him more and who He is as the source of life, love, and all things. This may or may not result in a change of circumstances but it always results in a change of disposition. It brings us to a place of greater joy, contentment, and rest in Him.

We are told that "eye has not yet seen or ear yet heard..." what God has for us in eternity and what exactly being fully glorified and like Christ will look like. But this may be the primary reason we are given to encourage us ¹in our struggles i.e. to make us more Christlike. If and when we trust God, knowing this is sufficient.

The rub is what we gain eternally is often not obvious and has no immediate benefit to us now but a gain we have to accept by faith.    To us an analogy by Tim Keller, we don't have a video explanation of the value we receive from our struggles but an audio one. It is one we are given by words (promises) not by sight - at least not yet. Words we must believe but promises we have not actually seen firsthand with their own eyes or fully experienced. It is this very faith God is seeking to stretch and increase. So we do have some idea -- audio -- why we should remain faithful in our pursue of God but not the complete idea - video i.e. we are not yet face-to-face with Jesus.

Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." - John 20:29

It is our believing while not seeing that God is looking to stretch and expand. 

¹Actually there is another very significant reason for our suffering. It is so we will understand Christ's suffering on our behalf more fully.  The more we understand his suffering -- which usually doesn't occur until we go through our own -- the more we see His love and in turn grow in our love for him and what he did for us. For a further discussion on this click here. 

Another reason may simply be that we become more compassionate for the suffering of others which enables us to better love our neighbor as ourselves. This too is a present benefit.

But note, none of these benefits necessarily improve our circumstances but they do give us hope and enable us to persevere in our challenges with joy.