Tag: Gift

As Americans, we celebrate our freedom today.  Freedom gives us a sense of hope and helps us feel optimistic about our lives. But with freedom comes responsibility.

A tree is known by its fruits. In the fifth chapter of his Letter to the Galatians, Paul makes this very specific and tells us that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control,” implying that the Spirit’s presence in one’s life can be read from its radiance in these soul-expanding qualities. 

Our modern culture is like a 24/7 convenience store. We can get anything we want 24/7 and at the push of a button. We can end up thinking that everything about life should be easy, be it marriage, self-discipline or even our salvation. The illusion of ease shouldn’t fool us. Working toward our salvation is challenging work. 

What is it that makes our lives heavy and weighed down? Precisely the burden of our own egos, the weight of one’s own self. When I am puffing myself up with my own self-importance, I’m laboring under all that weight. Jesus asks us to become like a child, take the weight off your shoulders.  He says, “Put on the weight of my yoke of my obedience to the Father.”

We are called to be reconciled with one another. The role of forgiveness in repairing our broken relationships is like a rule of physics. When God lays the need for forgiveness on your heart and you realize that you need to forgive someone (or be forgiven by someone), go and do it. Go get reconciled. 

Lately I’ve been doing a little shadow boxing and gaining awareness of some of the parts of who I am that I’ve tucked in the shadows of my personality.  I’m realizing that sometimes I care too much about others and about doing a good job. This is a good thing until it is not.

At the end of the baby boomer generation, I loved listening to Elton John and I especially liked his song “Candle in the Wind.”  It was such a beautiful tribute to Marilyn Monroe whose life was cut too short because of her pain and suffering.  The darkness overshadowed the light within. 

How good are you in being present, fully present to the moment in front of you, not living in the past or planning for the future?  Dwelling on the past takes us away from living our current best life.  It can keep us stuck in depression and regret.  Or we can focus on the uncertain future and its vague forebodings. 

As we walk through life, there are many things and people we may lose, or lose out on, if we are unwilling to commit. We need to make a commitment for relationships to grow beyond the dating stage, to have the home we want, the job we want, or the car we desire.

Some people in our lives only seem to see the good in us. They trust and respect us, even when we ourselves may not feel we deserve it.