Skip to main content

Saying, "No"

             For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, (Titus 2:11-12)

The part of this passage that caught my attention was “It [grace] teaches us to say ‘No’…” When I was little, I learned a long list of things that were bad. At the moment, it doesn’t matter exactly what was or is on the list, but I’ll use “drinking alcohol” as an example. Somewhere along the line, I stopped “not drinking alcohol because it’s bad,” to not drinking alcohol because I don’t like the burn and have no interest. I can’t honestly tell people that I don’t drink because I’m a Christian. I don’t drink alcohol because I have no desire to do so. I don’t like the stuff.

There are other things on the old list that aren’t on the current list because I have no desire to do them. That’s the reason behind another story that I’ve told before. One day, I found myself wondering which was worse: eating a nice big spoonful of peanut butter or murder. I had to conclude that eating the peanut butter was the worse thing because I was tempted to do that, while I had no interest in killing anyone.

Children are often taught to say “No” to things because those in authority over tell them to. The hope is that they’ll continue to resist temptation as they grow up, but if they are to do so, chances are good that the authority said “No,” won’t remain the reason. They will internalize the rule so that they don’t do it because they choose not to do it.

There is a place for the authority as reason, but it’s the start, not the end. God will accept “Because God said so” as the reason, but we have only truly learned to live self-controlled, upright lives in this present age when “Because I have no desire to” can replace “Because God said so.” It’s like the celebrities learning to dance in Dancing With The Stars. They start out moving according to their count or the beat, and it looks it. One, two…put foot there. Spin, smile, one, step, step, four. The good ones eventually stop thinking their way through the routine. They stop moving to the music and start dancing. If you don’t have a resolution yet, this is a good one – to learn to dance with God.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more