We Live In A Society That Competes.

[Walter and Deborah]

8-20-19
Continued from: Humility Is Absolutely Necessary: We live in a society that competes among ourselves to be somebody special. In the course of that competition, it is decided who will lead and who will follow. The followers commit themselves to the leaders expecting to be part of a group that is "something special". Even though they are followers, they are part of the rebellion against God that began with the first man, Adam.

They satisfy themselves with the idea that they are part of a group that is special "like God" and therefore they are somebody special. This desire to be singularly praised and loved simply must be controlled in our lives because singular praise or special praise and love belong to one person and one person only-God.

Most of us lacked humility when we began our new life in Christ. For years, I was totally lacking in humility- I simply modified my thinking and my behavior and began producing my own stage play. Much later, I began to understand we are a new creation and that old things are to pass away and all things are to become new. II Corinthians 5:17

If we continue to modify our old sin nature instead of controlling it, we will still have that desire to be "like God". As long as we allow that desire to remain, we will actually be God's competitor and not His subject. He is the King and if we want to receive the love of the King, we must humble ourselves. As we humble ourselves, our faith rises and we become more dependent on God.

We are then able to give up the desire to control people and circumstances, which had been necessary to gain the status of somebody special or part of a special group. Life then becomes more real and we see ourselves in a new and better way-not fearing what men or women may say, but striving to please God who loves us so.

Love always, Walter

[adoptedwatcher]

Hey Walter! This is so insightful! I tend to struggle with worrying about what others say or think, and the circumstances of my life, when that should not be my concern at all. I hope to stop doing this soon. Thank you for posting this!

[unworthyservant]

3 hours ago, Walter and Deborah said:

8-20-19
Continued from: Humility Is Absolutely Necessary: We live in a society that competes among ourselves to be somebody special. In the course of that competition, it is decided who will lead and who will follow. The followers commit themselves to the leaders expecting to be part of a group that is "something special". Even though they are followers, they are part of the rebellion against God that began with the first man, Adam.

They satisfy themselves with the idea that they are part of a group that is special "like God" and therefore they are somebody special. This desire to be singularly praised and loved simply must be controlled in our lives because singular praise or special praise and love belong to one person and one person only-God.

Most of us lacked humility when we began our new life in Christ. For years, I was totally lacking in humility- I simply modified my thinking and my behavior and began producing my own stage play. Much later, I began to understand we are a new creation and that old things are to pass away and all things are to become new. II Corinthians 5:17

If we continue to modify our old sin nature instead of controlling it, we will still have that desire to be "like God". As long as we allow that desire to remain, we will actually be God's competitor and not His subject. He is the King and if we want to receive the love of the King, we must humble ourselves. As we humble ourselves, our faith rises and we become more dependent on God.

We are then able to give up the desire to control people and circumstances, which had been necessary to gain the status of somebody special or part of a special group. Life then becomes more real and we see ourselves in a new and better way-not fearing what men or women may say, but striving to please God who loves us so.

Love always, Walter

Very good, Walter! I will only add that I don't believe it is wise to either modify or control our sinful nature as that implies that we can modify or control it ourselves. That may not have been your intent. from what I've seen of your posts here I doubt that it is. I believe that if we will live for God and follow the teachings of Christ, we must GIVE UP or repent (turn away from) the old sinful nature and then when tempted, don't waste effort trying to modify or control, rather pray to God to "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." "Jesus said it all, all I have to do is listen".

[Walter and Deborah]

1 hour ago, adoptedwatcher said:

Hey Walter! This is so insightful! I tend to struggle with worrying about what others say or think, and the circumstances of my life, when that should not be my concern at all. I hope to stop doing this soon. Thank you for posting this!

Amen, We must learn to live by every word of God, to be together with Him. 

[Walter and Deborah]

8 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

Very good, Walter! I will only add that I don't believe it is wise to either modify or control our sinful nature as that implies that we can modify or control it ourselves. That may not have been your intent. from what I've seen of your posts here I doubt that it is. I believe that if we will live for God and follow the teachings of Christ, we must GIVE UP or repent (turn away from) the old sinful nature and then when tempted, don't waste effort trying to modify or control, rather pray to God to "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." "Jesus said it all, all I have to do is listen".

Amen, Proverbs 28:13 

Hearing and obeying His words to be in His kingdom.

Edited August 20, 2019 by Walter and Deborah
More info.

[Still Alive]

3 hours ago, Walter and Deborah said:

8-20-19
Continued from: Humility Is Absolutely Necessary: We live in a society that competes among ourselves to be somebody special. In the course of that competition, it is decided who will lead and who will follow. The followers commit themselves to the leaders expecting to be part of a group that is "something special". Even though they are followers, they are part of the rebellion against God that began with the first man, Adam.

They satisfy themselves with the idea that they are part of a group that is special "like God" and therefore they are somebody special. This desire to be singularly praised and loved simply must be controlled in our lives because singular praise or special praise and love belong to one person and one person only-God.

Most of us lacked humility when we began our new life in Christ. For years, I was totally lacking in humility- I simply modified my thinking and my behavior and began producing my own stage play. Much later, I began to understand we are a new creation and that old things are to pass away and all things are to become new. II Corinthians 5:17

If we continue to modify our old sin nature instead of controlling it, we will still have that desire to be "like God". As long as we allow that desire to remain, we will actually be God's competitor and not His subject. He is the King and if we want to receive the love of the King, we must humble ourselves. As we humble ourselves, our faith rises and we become more dependent on God.

We are then able to give up the desire to control people and circumstances, which had been necessary to gain the status of somebody special or part of a special group. Life then becomes more real and we see ourselves in a new and better way-not fearing what men or women may say, but striving to please God who loves us so.

Love always, Walter

I think your post hints at why communes in the US were a thing in the Hippie days.

I see this a little differently: Everything man does, he does for one of two reasons: 

1. Fear of something bad happening.

2. Desire for something good to happen. 

Desire is the higher course, but it runs the risk of becoming greed. 

[unworthyservant]

2 minutes ago, Still Alive said:

I think your post hints at why communes in the US were a thing in the Hippie days.

I see this a little differently: Everything man does, he does for one of two reasons: 

1. Fear of something bad happening.

2. Desire for something good to happen. 

Desire is the higher course, but it runs the risk of becoming greed. 

Hi, Still Alive. I have a little different view on why man does what he does. Your reasons are valid given the nature of man but here's another way of looking at the two reasons that man does what he does

1. To serve God and do His will.

2. To serve Satan and placate himself.

[Walter and Deborah]

14 minutes ago, Still Alive said:

I think your post hints at why communes in the US were a thing in the Hippie days.

I see this a little differently: Everything man does, he does for one of two reasons: 

1. Fear of something bad happening.

2. Desire for something good to happen. 

Desire is the higher course, but it runs the risk of becoming greed. 

Amen, Philippians 4:8

[Still Alive]

24 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

Hi, Still Alive. I have a little different view on why man does what he does. Your reasons are valid given the nature of man but here's another way of looking at the two reasons that man does what he does

1. To serve God and do His will.

2. To serve Satan and placate himself.

I certainly can't argue with that. The challenge comes in day to day decision making. A simple example: I get home from work and decide to throw the frisbie with my dog. Am I serving God or Satan?

[unworthyservant]

1 minute ago, Still Alive said:

I certainly can't argue with that. The challenge comes in day to day decision making. A simple example: I get home from work and decide to throw the frisbie with my dog. Am I serving God or Satan?

Personally, I don't think that part of the decision making process is necessarily either. It's like not seeing the forest for the trees. It's looking at a microcosm when the real question is what were the alternatives. If you throw Frisbee with the dog instead of attending worship at your church or instead of comforting someone in need (you get the picture) then it is of Satan. However if you throw Frisbee with the dog instead of going to the bar or engaging in adultery, then it may well be of God. So, why not just pray, God is there anything that you have for me to do today and if there's nothing forthcoming, then by all means throw the Frisbee with the dog.

When we apply the same scenario to the idea of motivation being man's nature to choose based on either fear of something bad or desire for something good for himself, it only assumes that all motivation is for our own good and doesn't take into account that most of things that God asks of us are to make something good happen for someone else despite our fears for something bad on our part or our desire for good things for ourselves. When we follow Christ our motivation should be on whether we are doing everything in our power to do His will with the faith that if we're doing His will then God will see to the end result, whether or not it gratifies our personal desires or fears.  The Bible tells us that if we will make our decisions based on the good we can do for others, God will do what's good for us so we shouldn't worry about the bad results.  

That said, lets look at the conundrum that comes from making the decision based on our personal desire for good things and fear of bad things. So, in throwing the Frisbee we have to weigh the good against the bad possibilities. The good possibilities might be 1. Having fun with the dog. 2. Getting a little exercise. 3. Finding a lost item in the yard. 4. If you're single, you might meet a nice person of the opposite sex when retrieving the Frisbee that got out of the yard. 5. The dog will be too tired to chew the furniture. and on it goes. Bad possibilities might include, 1. Throwing too hard and breaking the neighbor's window. 2. The dog might break a leg while jumping to catch the Frisbee. and so on.

Now on the surface this absurd scenario seems to lean towards the good possibilities. But to come to that conclusion you must first take into account the relative probability of each possibility and then compare those with the overall motivation to throw the Frisbee. I just find it a lot less confusing when I just rely on God and not my human nature for decisions in my life.