Tag Archives: Matthew

“I want… now” Christianity and the spiritual dangers

i want“I want it now!” is often a phrase many of us with children have heard often. If you don’t have children, you’ve probably listened to the conversation between parent and child, too. Everyone knows that children can be impatient at times. Whether it is a toy, a stop at a restaurant, or to go outside, children are often anxious and unwilling to compromise on their demands. For a parent or any other caretaker, this becomes a lesson in patience and determination. We often see that what a child wants and what they need can often be two different things.

As Christians, at some time in our relationship with the Lord, we’ve been impatient. It happens to every Christian, both young and old. “Lord, I want… now!” may not be the exact words we say, but if we are honest, we know it is what we have felt.

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Focus on yourself; it is okay not to worry about others

focusFocus on yourself. For many Christians, this very idea seems contrary to everything we know to be Christian. In the letters written to Paul, we are told to teach one another. In the book of Ezekiel, we are urged to be watchmen on the wall – warning of God’s impending judgment of sin. If we are supposed to do all of this, how can we not worry about others?

Setting ourselves as the top priority

Beginning with my early teenage years and extending into adulthood, I often worried about what others thought of me. As a result, I often found myself in places or situations where I didn’t want to be. Wanting to be liked by my new “friends” at college, I spent every night partying instead of studying and doing homework. Therefore, I sacrificed a full scholarship at the University of Southern Mississippi to study music to party every night.  Wanting to be seen as an adult by others, I married at twenty-three years old. That marriage ended three years later and set me on a path of self-loathing and hatred. And all because I thought more highly of what others thought of me than what I thought of myself.

We often neglect our spiritual health. Sometimes we become fixated on trying to control how others see us. When we need prayer, we often don’t ask for it because we fear being seen as weak. And other times, we hide from the Lord by keeping ourselves busy doing the Lord’s “work.” And if we are not careful, we will elevate our spiritual needs above the needs of others, which is also spiritually dangerous.

Jesus tells us to keep a proper focus.

As Christians, we hear all kinds of anecdotal stories and teachings of how we should put Jesus first, others next, and then ourselves last. But in the scriptures, there is a different and more profound order. We place Jesus first, then our own spiritual needs next. It is impossible to minister to the needs of others until we have the right mind and spirit. We are often led to believe we are selfish when we do seek to have our spiritual needs met first. It is a vicious cycle that caused me a lot of mental anguish until I began to grasp what the Bible teaches.

Fulfilling our spiritual needs looks different for each believer

One of the best-known stories of the New Testament is the rivalry between Mary and Martha. Consider this passage in John: There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment (John 12:2-3). We see the story of two women, each seeking to have their spiritual needs met but in a different way.

Martha felt led to prepare and serve her Lord a meal. She needed to demonstrate her hospitality for the Lord’s approval. But Mary didn’t have that same spiritual need. Undoubtedly, if we consider the cost of her gift to the Lord, was priceless by market standards. Even Judas remarked of how foolish that offering made by Mary was. Jesus rebuked the scoffers and the scorners: Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always (John 12:7-8). She had a spiritual need met by giving her most valued possession to the Lord at that moment.

Jesus expounds on this teaching moment

In the gospel of Luke, there’s a continuation of this story: But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10:40-42). Martha is upset and is complaining to Jesus about Mary’s lack of hospitality, choosing to wash Jesus’ feet instead of helping to prepare and serve a meal.

Martha expected Jesus to side with her. She believed being hospitable to the Lord and their guests were more important than what Mary felt she needed to do. Why? Because Martha thought her spiritual need was that important than what Mary was doing. Mary was wasting her money on a trivial thing. It was Martha’s need to be prepared for the meal, which was much more important to her.

Each of us is Martha and Mary

We all have this happen to us from time to time. Sometimes, we are Martha, demanding others do what we think is right only because it addresses our spiritual need. We can often become dismissive of the spiritual needs of others. And yes, like Martha, we can even hold our own spiritual needs above the needs of those around us. All Martha was doing for the Lord was good until her attitude towards Mary became the center of her focus. She began to resent Mary. Martha didn’t like that Mary didn’t have the same vision as hers. In her heart, she became dismissive of Mary’s desire to offer all she had of value to the Lord.

And sometimes we are Mary. We are doing what we need to have our spiritual needs met. It may not be breaking a bottle of perfume to anoint Jesus’ feet, but it may be fasting, prayer, taking on a project within the church, or even going to nursing homes to visit the elderly or anything else which gets laid on our heart by the Lord. And then Martha comes along to remind us how what we are doing isn’t as important as what they are doing. And they never forget to tell us of the help they need to accomplish their goal.

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Pruning roses: a good example of God’s love for us

pruningPruning roses. For anyone who hasn’t done this, it can be a challenge. When I saw this image on one of the sites I use for stock images, I actually laughed. Only the brave or foolish will prune roses without gloves! But of all the free images on the site, it was the only picture which showed the base of the rose bush.

Last night, our church had the latest monthly dinner using a program offered through the Salvation Army called the Embrace Dinner. The materials are geared towards women’s meetings but are flexible. Our congregation uses it as a theme for a monthly dinner to encourage discussion. Last night’s theme was spiritual challenges. And believe me, this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I listened as others shared their spiritual challenges and the Lord reminded me it was time to prune my roses.

Pruning roses: what it does

I live in an apartment and do not have the ability to have a rose garden. Instead, I have a rose bush in a large flower pot outside and a miniature rose on the kitchen window sill. Both roses need pruning to keep them healthy and growing. When I prune the rose bushes, I look for the dead branches. I look for the branches were leaves look unhealthy, and I also look for the long branches that are growing in a direction I don’t want them to grow. All three of those types of branches are removed.

As anyone who loves roses knows, pruning doesn’t hurt the roses when it is done correctly. Pruning roses encourages new growth. Removing the dead branches allows more room for healthy growth. Cutting away the sick branches allows the rose to redirect those nutrients needed for the healthier branches and new growth. Removing the runners allows the gardener the ability to shape the rose bush. And as I was thinking about rose bush care, it hit me: this is how the Lord works in our lives.

The dead branches…

What causes dead branches? Within a rose bush, a number of things such as disease, bugs, and weak or broken spots. If left untreated, these imperfections can impact the health of the rest of the rose bush. As I sat in the dinner last night, listening to everyone share their spiritual challenges, I began to see things a bit more clearly. Just as there are dead branches that jeopardize the health and growth of rose bushes, there are branches that hinder Christian growth. And each of those branches are sins.

The sin in my life…

The apostle Paul spent a lot of his time warning early Christians about sin. In Romans, he writes this strong warning, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). We all apply this verse to the spiritual death those who have rejected Christ will experience. But for Christians, sin can bring about physical death. Yes, we may be forgiven for sinning as a Christian. But that forgiveness does not stop the consequences of our sin.

There’s a trend among some Christians to think that a little sin in life here is to be expected. But again, Paul warns us of this kind of thinking. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, he is addressing an area of concern. He has heard rumors of how the church is defending the sin of one of its members. Paul rebukes the members of the church. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 1 Corinthians 5:6. Just as a dead branch in a rose bush can impede its growth, tolerating sin in our lives has the same spiritual effects – we cannot grow in our faith. We’ve grown deaf to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit for us to avoid this sin.

Pruning out sin…

Just as the dead branches are cut out and removed from a rose bush, the Lord leads us to see these sins within our own life. He understands we are imperfect beings, but He still calls us to a life of holiness. Within the Old Testament, there ae several places where this is taught: Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 20:7). Yes, we are forgiven for our sins when we repent of them, but it is our willingness to yield to sin which cannot be overlooked. This willingness to sin must be pruned out of us. And this only happens as we seek closeness and fellowship with the Lord and other Christians.

No gardener expects a rose bush to remove its own dead branches. Those dead branches will stay attached to the bush and will block new growth from happening. When we begin to allow the Holy Spirit to remove the temptations to sin, we begin to grow, just as a rose bush will send out new growth. David wrote, Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously (Psalms 119:29). David is asking the Lord to prune him, to remove the sin of lying from him. It is such a yielding to the will of the Lord which allows Him to remove our dead branches.

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