CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
If our hope is based on political negotiations and outcomes, then we live in fear because we could lose everything. But if our hope is rooted in the eternal security provided by Christ, then we can weather any storm (Ps 18:2; Matt 7:24).
“In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground — firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease! My Comforter, my All in All, here in the love of Christ I stand.”
Getty and Townend, 2001
The greatest testimony I could possibly give is to have the audacity to live honestly. It takes courage to be myself. It takes security in God’s unconditional love, regardless of whatever strengths and success, but also in my weakness and failure. Living an authentic true to my beliefs life means I can experience the peace and joy only freedom from building a facade can produce. Being free of hypocrisy and being fake in my behavior brings great fulfillment, even though some may not understand.
“A facade is “an outward appearance that is maintained to conceal a less pleasant or creditable reality.” So often, to cover up what we know to be imperfect we devote ourselves to creating a false picture for others. We even devote so much energy to building a facade that we try and deceive ourselves. We muster up our pride and look only at what we’ve done well, all the while ignoring what we need help with. As a result, we spend all our time living a life apart from reality. And to live apart from reality is to live apart from the grace and love of our ever-present, wholly real Father.”
God longs for you to live fully known and fully loved. He longs for you to live out a revelation of his love and grace rather than striving for affection and acceptance by building up facades. Take time to experience his love and grace today. Assess your heart and tear down your walls. May freedom burst forth in your life today as you proclaim the glory of God’s grace by being who you really are.
- First 15
”Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.“
1 Samuel 12:24 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/1sa.12.24.CSB
Prayer is preoccupation with our needs. Praise is preoccupation with our blessings. Worship is preoccupation with God Himself. Leonard Ravenhill
If you take your eyes off the gospel long enough, you forget what it looks like. Jared C Wilson
Who can listen to a story of loneliness and despair without taking the risk of experiencing similar pains in his own heart and even losing his precious peace of mind? In short: “Who can take away suffering without entering it?
Through compassion it is possible to recognize that the craving for love that people feel resides also in our own hearts, that the cruelty the world knows all too well is also rooted in our own impulses. Through compassion we also sense our hope for forgiveness in our friends' eyes and our hatred in their bitter mouths. When they kill, we know that we could have done it; when they give life, we know that we can do the same. For a compassionate person nothing human is alien: no joy and no sorrow, no way of living and no way of dying.
when the imitation of Christ does not mean to live a life like Christ, but to live your life as authentically as Christ lived his, then there are many ways and forms in which a man can be a Christian.
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