Satisfaction or Distraction?

 

            There is a path before each one of us which is surrounded by numberless decisions, all of which will determine how we proceed in life, how we succeed or fail and how we treat others. Each one of these decisions can be interpreted by either love for self, seeking for empty distraction, pleasure, and vanity. The other path is that of choosing what is good, is true, is right, and is beautiful. How we define these things is founded on what we determine is the ultimate authority in our lives.

               Do we look to ourselves, to our limited knowledge, to our limited wisdom, and to our limited experience to make these decisions, or do we look to others who have proven themselves as wise and experienced. Again, how we see others, how we interpret their advice and guidance will be founded on what we believe to be foundationally true.

               In the same way that we should be criticizing ourselves, we should be understanding how others think, speak, and live. Are you and are they focused on what is genuinely true, good, and beautiful, or are you and they distracted by the emptiness of the pleasures of the world? While lemonade and gasoline may look similar, if you pour one in your gas tank on your vehicle, it will provide you the means for travel but if you pour the other you will destroy your means of travel.

               Appearances can be deceiving, the story we tell ourselves and the story we tell others, may be true, may be deceit, and in many cases, we present ourselves in the best possible light, rather than being honest about the true nature of our heart and soul. What you put into yourself will directly impact the quality of your thoughts, the quality of your words, and the quality of your actions.

               The quality of our lives and the path we travel are determined by what we put into ourselves. If you find yourself struggling with falling into the path of empty distraction, find someone who has wisdom and honest experience to help you redirect yourself toward the pursuit of goodness and truth. We can be easily deceived by their words, but we can easily interpret their actions and how they treat others. Remembering to acknowledge that people will always present themselves in the best possible light by using their words to impress you.

               Finding someone who is wise, experienced and godly is a difficult endeavor. These things can be seen in their actions not necessarily their words. Another error that can be made is that of trusting someone else to suggest someone in whom to find guidance. It is a rare occurrence to find someone who genuinely cares about you, and is thrilled at the possibility of helping you find the path to holiness.

Personal Critique

 

            There are a few different types of knowledge. There is the knowledge that we know about ourselves, the knowledge that others think they know about us, the knowledge that others know about us, and the knowledge we think we know about others. In all of these situations, dishonesty is a genuine possibility. We try to convince ourselves that we are good people, downplaying the horrible and devastating reality of sin and corruption in our lives.

               It is a common situation for someone to try to convince themselves that their sins, their weaknesses, and their corruption is not that bad. And at the same time, they look upon other people, at other people’s sins, weaknesses, and corruptions and impose judgment upon them, considering them worse than themselves.

               Far too often people will look upon others, condemn them for their sins, and forget that all sin is contrary to human nature, is destructive to what man is intended to be, and is anti-life, regardless of the sin. The best response to observing and considering sin is that all sin is opposite to the path the Christian is to be walking.

               In all honesty, each person needs to be extremely self-critical, and unrelenting in his judgment against himself. He needs to consider all men better than himself and not make excuses as to why his sin is less important than the sins of those around him.

               Analyze yourself, be critical of yourself, and be forgiving of others, considering them better than you. Only you know what goes on inside your thoughts and heart. You do not know what others are thinking, feeling, or considering when they are home alone or when they are struggling with something. We can look at someone and wonder why they think, speak, or do the things they do. This takes place because we don’t know the details of their life, their upbringing, or their current social/family situation.

               Learn to be sympathetic, learn to be forgiving, and learn to judge only yourself.

The Foundation of Deception

 

           

            Many people spend a great deal of time, energy and money in an effort to direct their lives the way that want their life to progress. The trouble with this approach is the presumption that we think we know best, usually basing our desired path on what we find most appealing, most satisfying, and often times, what is easy.

               There is an interesting balance that is taking place in all of this. Someone will work very hard to convince themselves that some things are true and some things are not true. In short, this is about deception. We deceive ourselves and we attempt to deceive others. The sad fact is that we know our weaknesses, our sins, and the true state of our heart and soul.

               It is safe to say that most people are concerned about what others think about them. They will lie to themselves and they will lie to others to create a picture that they and others will find appealing. When it comes down to it, self-deception and the deception of others is about selfishness.

               It is wise to step back from your current path, question what it is that you are doing, what you are saying, and the image you are trying to create of yourself. It is also wise to find others who are wiser than you, more experienced than you, and are willing to be honest with you about how you are living your life.

Do not presume that you know best, do not think that you are beyond reproach. Learn to critically assess yourself, work to find the best in others, and honestly recognize your weaknesses, your sins, and work on these rather than criticizing others for their sins. The man who is critical with himself is the man who will find the path to holiness. Do not downplay your sins but rather acknowledge them for what they are, and what they are doing to you and the purity of your heart and soul.

The Challenge of Moving Forward

     

            The athlete, the musician, the student, and the basic laborer all know that doing only the minimum will not lead to improvement or advancement. Any one of these who challenge themselves to be more, to do more, and to aim for the next step of improvement, to be the best in their field will bring about recognition and acknowledgment. This approach is true in the life of everyone, regardless of the vocation one chooses to pursue.

               Everyone has the same amount of time each day, each week, each month, and each year. He who chooses to use his time to improve himself, to challenge himself and not be distracted by the empty world of social media, entertainment and small talk. One can easily get lost while doom scrolling to lose hours a day that bring nothing of value into one’s life.

               You can use up your time with empty distraction, or you can use your time in prayer, in reading books of value, or interacting with others who will help you improve, all of which will fill your mind with content of value and the opportunity to become a better person. Think of your time as a commodity which you do not want to waste but rather use to make yourself a better version of you.

               When given the opportunity, do you choose to each fast food, snacks, soda, and candy, or do you take in food with actual nutritional value that will strengthen your body, fill you with energy that makes your body healthy and whole? Whatever it is that you put into your heart and mind is what you will find yourself thinking about and dwelling on.

               If your goal is to be holy and move toward truth, goodness, light, and beauty, then put those things in your heart and mind. Don’t fill yourself with the inanity of Hollywood, pop culture, or silly distraction. The first step toward truth and beauty is to begin documenting how you spend your time, what you are putting into your mind, and honestly assessing the wisdom of your approach.

               If this is a place of struggle for you, find someone to help you, challenge you, and be critical of how you use your time and with what you fill yourself. If you need to answer to someone, know that if you choose the right person, they will help you move forward.

What Happens Next?

 

            Our lives are rarely our own, we make decisions, we interact with others, we receive advice from others sometimes when we have not asked for their input. Many people live in a way thinking that they are in control, that their thoughts, words, and actions will move them in the direction they want to go. But unfortunately, the thoughts, words, and actions of others can have an impact on the quality or direction of our life.

               One could say that sometimes accidents happen, or the unforeseen takes place and causes either positive or negative influence upon us. He who is deluded enough to think that he is in perfect control of his life, will often end up learning that there are some people who have issue with them and want to see them fail.

               If you have ever gone on a walk and part way through that walk picked up a small rock on the inside of your shoe, if you don’t remove that pebble sooner than later, the walk will become awkward and painful. Sometimes in our lives, we meet people, we interact with people, and we allow them to negatively impact us. If we are wise, we will recognize the problems that others bring upon us and we will learn to avoid them and cut them off.

               We should frequently ask ourselves, “What happens next?” If you are humble enough to seek advice from those who are wiser than you, you may gain insight that you were unable to pick up without the positive input from others. What thoughts, what speech, and what actions will you do to move you in a good direction and up to the next best step for you to improve yourself? 

Cut off the negative, embrace the positive, and seek for those people who will help you, challenge you, and push you toward that which is good and right and true. Think of input from others in the same way that you think about your food intake. If you only eat fast food, empty calories, and soda, your body will become flaccid and weak. Take into your heart and mind the people who will help you become a better you.

Taking on a Label

 

            If you are one who calls himself a Christian, why do you take this label and on what are you basing this claim? To build a foundation for the basis of this question, one will label oneself in certain ways under the influence of the culture in which he lives. One person can make claims about himself based on his interpretation of reality, while others may look at them and come to different conclusions.

               One can easily deceive himself into thinking certain things, while others will see through the self-deception and understand you differently. Simply attending an American Evangelical church service once a week does not make one a Christian. Our thoughts, our words, and our behavior will define us in ways that should correspond with our claim to being a follower of Jesus Christ.

               If we sit and are entertained in an American Evangelical service for an hour, that is hardly grounds for labeling oneself a follower of Christ. Does the way you talk about others, the way you treat others, and your lifestyle during the rest of the week align with the life that Jesus and the apostles teach in the New Testament?

               Are you loving? Are you judgmental? Are you kind and generous? Or is your life centered around making yourself comfortable and distracted? Think of your life in this way. Jesus taught his disciples, who became apostles, who then taught the first generation of Christians and that pattern has been ongoing since the first century.  What one sees and hears in the most American Evangelical services is nothing like what one sees in the last two thousand years of Christian history.

               Is your life in alignment with Jesus’ teaching, the apostles teaching, and the examples of holy people through the last twenty centuries?

From the Library

 

Please take a moment to visit my new medium for communication, over at YouTube. I have begun a new series of video talks, each about ten minutes in length, discussing ethics and theology.

Episode six was recently uploaded and can be seen here: 

From the Library

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