WHY DO WE NATURALLY LIMIT OURSELVES
There is an
inclination to judge people by their wealth, status, and power within society.
Those with more influence are treated differently than others with less. People
are constantly rated on a scale that is based on who is more important. Those
who are looked upon as having a higher worth receive more in comparison to
other people causing many to struggle and suffer unjustly. Through the eyes of
God all of us are the same and we are encouraged to go against this social norm
in favor of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus was critical of those who
displayed their social status and raised themselves above other people. He
pointed out that their reward had already been given to them; that reward
having its roots in this world which created the system of favoritism in the
first place. The rewards and adulations we seek should be from God himself and
should be centered on our spirituality. Acknowledging God’s presence and
building our lives on a foundation of faith and love will renter results and
rewards in this life and the next.
The rewards that
God offers have nothing to do with materialism and physical desires. These are
things that serve as obstacles to true joy and love. God offers us a life with
him and through him. This life merges together the physical, mental, and
spiritual; making us a complete person. Without God and his influence we are
broken; an incomplete picture that is fractured through our sins. God takes
away that brokenness. We are repaired constantly through our relationship with
him.
When we go
through this process of repair and transformation something else happens in
reaction to this. We feel good. We feel God. We want to share that experience
and spread that goodness. It is enkindled within us and grows as our focus
changes from selfishness to selflessness. We not only want to do good, we need
to do good. We need to spread the Good News of Salvation. Good acts come
naturally and there should be no limits set on these actions. God does not
limit himself to what he does and does not do. He did not limit our capabilities
when he created the universe and us. We being his children should do the same
thing. Give until it hurts then give some more. Do good works until we are exhausted
then do some more. Celebrate Jesus until our voices are sore, then celebrate
some more.
We should never
minimize what God expects of us or limit it to what we are comfortable with.
That is a sin. It is the sin of minimalism: doing the least possible to get by.
With it we become disengaged and lazy. We need to be challenged every day to do
more, bringing Jesus Christ to everyone through our words and action. Through
this we can experience the Kingdom of God because we are constructing it with
our own hands. We are the keepers of that kingdom and we need to maintain it
and help it to grow. That is why we were created in the first place: to be an
intricate part of God’s creation. As the universal displays its limitlessness,
we too can do the same thing, for we are a part of that same universe.
Deacon Tom
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