Seeds for 1/12/2023 - Colossians 1:12b
Scripture: “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” [This sentence is rather long, but we’re wrapping it up tomorrow.]
Observation: Imagine applying for a position with a company or a scholarship for a school and being told you’re not qualified for the position or the scholarship you want. Gospel faith isn’t that we’re qualified and we just don’t realize it. Gospel faith is that despite our unworthiness, God desired us so much that He met the qualifications on our behalf.
We need a constant reminder that the gospel is not about what we do, but what God has done in Christ because we too easily slip into that thinking and hold it over both ourselves and others. Over ourselves because we may try to prove ourselves worthy or qualified and (1) puff up with pride thinking we’ve done it, (2) fall into self-loathing when we realize we can’t, and/or (3) fall away from faith when we don’t like the idea of it.
Remembering that He has qualified us allows us to be deeply, genuinely humble. We haven’t earned our place before God. Neither can anyone else. That truth also gives us access to genuine compassion for others. Rather than sitting in judgment, we note that, just like us, despite their wrongs (and we don’t have to call wrongs right), the Lord who has qualified us for His inheritance offers that same grace to anyone who will receive it by faith.
Application: How hard or easy is it to have compassion for people versus judgment? How can deeper grounding in gospel faith cultivate humility and compassion both for ourselves and others?
Prayer: Lord, I’ve loved the dark too much to be qualified for your kingdom of light, so I’m grateful that you have qualified me for this inheritance. Keep me tethered to this wonderful truth today. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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Woo wee, this is a HUGE struggle for me in my life. How hard or easy is it to have compassion for people versus judgment? HARD! I teeter on that fine line between judgment and correction every day with students, fellow colleagues, and my family. I'm very ACT RIGHT...I want people at work to have common sense, I want students to not wear hoodies like they're not supposed to, I want new teachers to get a clue about classroom management, I want my family to act "right" according to me. Yes, not everyone will do what I want them to do all the time. I do feel people have "gotten away" with deviant or bad behavior because our society allows "grace" or a lax in correction because we don't want to hurt feelings or we're allowing people to be their individual self. They're mistaking correction for judgment especially the younger generation. Now, I sound like an old person. I have empathy for many things in peoples' lives, but I'm still going to say "straighten up" if you're not making good decisions. I don't ever feel like I'm better than other people. I just feel like without corrective guidance, people will do what they want and that's not always what they should be doing. Well, then people say, what makes you the judge of what I should be doing? It's used as a crutch now..a "gaslight answer" so to speak. There are so many students that do not like me correcting them at the high school. "You're mean, Miss." I get that a lot. No, I'm nice. The world is mean, and listen to me because I'm always going to pour into you what will make you successful in the world. That's my job. I want every kid to leave our school with knowledge in academics, gumption and follow-through skills, financial awareness, and spiritual health. My compassion for these students to excel in life worries me so much for when they leave our bubble. I'm so scared for them. I cry at graduation every time. 30 years now! Yes, I'm sad to see them go, but I'm mostly stressed about the world they're jumping into. Part of me thinks I need more humility and grace for people and then I think maybe I just need to have more faith. It's such a struggle for me and I've made my body sick over the years of worry.
:)