Jesus says in John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Jesus doesn't merely call us to to Himself to be forgiven or cleansed from sin. More than that, He calls us to Himself and offers a beautiful, fulfilling, and abundant life... life to the full!
But rather than abundant, it often seems as if the Christian life is better described as difficult and full of trials.
It may seem ironic, but I think that abundant life comes only when we are willing to die to our self. Life to the full comes when we die to self and find life in Christ rather than in the pleasures of the world (ie. grades, money, sex, friends, comfort).
This short video is cute and a great illustration of the idea of abundant life coming by way of death. Check it out...
According to Wikipedia, the tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body proportional to its size.
And we learned this past Friday from James 3:1-12 just how strong the tonge can be. You see, the tongue has the ability to praise God as well as curse men. The tongue has the potential to be used to build others up as well as tear others down.
Noolee challenged us from the book of James to use our tongue and our words for the purpose of edification. We are to use our lips to encourage and support one another (see 1 Thes. 5:11).
Now, I don't know about you, but this is often easier said than done! There are a lot of dumb and insensitive things that come out of my mouth, even though I genuninely desire to be more encouraging towards others with my speech.
And this makes me wonder what this says about the condition of my heart. Sure, I could will and force myself to say a bunch of nice and encouraging things to others. But does that necessarily mean that I am a nice and encouraging person?
If I want to be someone who is genuinely encouraging and edifying (as opposed to someone who merely says encouraging and edifying things... and yes, there is a distinction), I realize that I need to change my heart.
I see it like this. Imagine you are on a speedboat that is on auto-pilot, and the auto-pilot is set to turn left. But for some reason, you want to steer the speedboat to turn right. If this is your desire, you can turn the boat to the right using one of two methods. First, you could fight the auto-pilot and physically force the steering wheel to the right. This would of course be incredibly tiring after some time, but theoretically, it should work. Or second, you could change the auto-pilot so that the speedboat naturally turns to the right without having you fight or resist.
In the same way, if we want to be someone who is encouraging and edifying, you could either force yourself to say encouraging and edifying things. But of course, you may tire of this. Or, you could change your character and heart... your auto-pilot... so that you are genuninely encouraging and edifying. After all, it is out of the overflow of his heart that a man speaks (Luke 6:45).
What are some of your thoughts on James 3:1-12? Open Door College Ministry, let your voice be heard!
