I lean toward being a Pharisee - and that's not fair-you-see!!
My tendency is to believe that I am worthy of God's love and acceptance by what I do or don't do, or by how good or bad of a man I am for Him.
This manifests itself in a number of ways in my life. When I feel like I have done something well - helped someone in need, or provided wise counsel to someone - then I am more loved by God because I have done a good job. Of course, that also means the opposite is true for me too - if I mess up or make a choice that I know is not honoring to God - I am in jeopardy of losing His love.
I recently finished the book, Love Wins, by Rob Bell. This book asks lots of questions about heaven and hell, and many of those questions are very profound. But the most powerful part of the book for me was the chapter on the Prodigal Son (The Good News Is Better Than That). In a nutshell, Rob talks about how there are actually three stories at work here: the story of the prodigal who believes he is not worthy of his father's love because of the poor choices he has made; the story of the older son, who believes he deserves his father's love because of what he has done; and the story of the father, who freely offers his love to both sons, regardless of either of their choices.
Sometimes I gravitate toward the younger son - beating myself up for poor choices, for not living up to the standards of the father. Sometimes I am the older son - proud of myself for all the good I have done and ready to receive the accolades I deserve.
Either way, I am a pharisee.
My prayer for Lent (and beyond!) is that I would be willing to truly trust and believe my Father's version of the story!
No comments:
Post a Comment