Risking Rejection to Love Like Jesus
Jesus confronted the very thing I’m most afraid of: being rejected for being your authentic self. In the face of unbelief, Jesus stood firm. He was confident in His person and certain of what was true.
Culture is the set of principles, values, behaviours, and beliefs characteristic of a particular group of people. We are all born and immersed in the culture of the world, which is opposite the culture of heaven.
Receiving Christ as your Saviour means you shift from the world’s culture to heaven’s culture. Your aim as a believer is now to learn as much about heaven’s culture as you can and, increasingly, live it out on earth.
Jesus confronted the very thing I’m most afraid of: being rejected for being your authentic self. In the face of unbelief, Jesus stood firm. He was confident in His person and certain of what was true.
At the end of the year, many Christians, brimming with optimism and motivation, assess their walk with Christ and resolve to turn over a new leaf by cultivating their spiritual life. Sadly for many, the leaf wilts, the resolution dissolves, and the motivation stalls as their lives become complicated.
Both Judaism and Christianity have the same Old Testament. The essential difference is that Christians accept Jesus as the Messiah and their personal Saviour while Jews do not.
Standing on the dividing line between history and prophecy, one truth is constant—humanity relishes war. In the long, sad history of humanity, we have failed to learn the truth that war is a long-term, cruel business.
I had a conversation with my uncle about my then-current job. I described my lack of motivation and dissatisfaction with the work. His answer was my turning point. He said firmly, “But you do know, when you work, you’re really working for the Lord?”
When we consult the Scriptures further we see that God does not explicitly command against war or against the taking of another’s life. Murder, which is different than killing, is explicitly condemned.
God makes some people large, others moderate in stature. Still others are small in size. We frequently make the mistake of calling small folks “little,” but that is an unfortunate and unfair tag. I’m not picking at terms...there is a great deal of difference between being small and being little.
I once heard an older person say, “I’m not older, I’m just further ahead of you.” It made me stop and think. And it helped me make a paradigm shift in the way I perceive age and older people.
To combat ageism, we first need to become aware of it in ourselves and those around us. We become informed by reading about aging and talking with older people about ageism.
Slice it any way you wish, ignorance is not bliss. Dress it in whatever garb you please, ignorance is not attractive. Neither is it the mark of humility nor the path to spirituality. It certainly is not the companion of wisdom.