Live God's way, it's the best diet!Galatians 5:19-23
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
2 comments:
Your message has me reflecting on a book I read recently. "in the realm of hungry ghosts.". Have you read it? It's stories about people living with addictions in Vancouver. Their lives have been filled with the negatives. Yet, in a few instances they try to change their lives; because they still have hope.
I have not heard of this book you mention before, but it looks very interesting now that I've checked it out online.
Hope seems capable of residing in the most difficult of circumstances. I applaud Dr. Mate for nurturing hope in a very challenging neighbourhood, that of Vancouver's East Side. It encourages me to be a purveyor of hope in Lendrum!
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