Voices

I keep wondering what I'm going to write next. The fact is there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). It's all been said, it's all been thought. So I wonder if I have anything worthwhile to say because I figure someone's already said it. But then I look around at the world and see so many people saying so many things. There must be a reason I feel compelled to comment on it. I just trust God continually to help me discern which thoughts I should share for your betterment.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 that there are many voices in the world, yet none of them are without significance. I hope it's not terribly out of context to say then that everybody is saying something. Everybody has a "message." Do we really have any other choice? I don't believe we do. We must then choose what it is we are going to say. Choosing to remain in ignorance is only a road to destruction. But seeking the knowledge of the Lord is wisdom and health.

I am greatly challenged in this. I sometimes harbor wrong attitudes toward people in my life. I am tempted regularly with thoughts that tear others down and criticize them without considering what their struggle might be that is holding them back. And then I turn around and expect others to understand where I'm coming from. Double standard? Yes. I think so.

What do I do then? I don't do anything. I look to Christ for how I should think, and what I should say. And I recognize that it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that I can hope to overcome this sin. In my opinion, we in the church pride ourselves on our good behavior far more than we should without acknowledging the work of the Holy Spirit in us, changing us. Satan's way is all too easy to follow. We were trained in his ways at conception. We were taught his ways for all the years we did not know God and his Word. And we are still subject to his ways inasmuch as we do not know the truth, including the fact that he is the primary informer of the way of sinners.

Read John 8 where Jesus told the church leaders that they belonged to the Devil. I don't think he was kidding in the slightest. They were absolutely convinced that they were doing the work of God, yet they did not know Him. They did not recognize Him (John 1). So just because we do "religious" and charitable things, we are not by default doing what the Father has set us here to do.

Consider which "voice" is speaking through you. Are you in touch with what the Father has placed you here to do?