If I’m angry, really angry, if I’m despondent, really down, if I’m scared, kind of petrified … ...there are two approaches that people typically take to these emotions. The one is what I’ll call the moralistic one. The moralist one is to just get down on yourself saying, “I shouldn’t feel like this,” or, “I must have done something wrong. It’s my fault.” You knock yourself down. The other approach is the self-esteemistic one. There is the moralistic and now there is what I call the self-esteemistic one. The moralistic says, “It must be my fault. I’m sinning somehow.” The self-esteemistic one says, “The reason I’m angry, the reason I’m petrified, the reason I’m despondent is because somebody is not meeting my needs. I have to get out of this situation. I have needs. I have to have them met.” The reason both of those are so often used is because they’re both usually partly true. You are being sinned against and you are sinning, but that doesn’t get at the nut. That doesn’t get down to the nub of it. It doesn’t get down to the root. It doesn’t get way down. This is what you’re supposed to do. When you experience anger, despondency, or fright, you say, “Something has become my life and I’m losing it. The reason it’s having this terrible effect on me is because it’s become my life. It’s a good thing, but it’s become something that I think will really make my life. That’s the reason why I’m being controlled by it.” So the only way that I’m able to really do this in a way that gets at things … To be concerned is fine, but to be petrified? To be angry is okay, frankly, but to be bitter? To be disappointed is okay, but to be despondent? It means something which is a good thing has become the best thing in your life, better than God, better than that. Now it has you by the heart. So the only way to do it is you look at the thing that you feel like you’re losing and you say, “You’re not my life. Christ is my life. You’re a good thing, and I’m glad to have you, and I’m glad you’re there, and I’d like to get you if I can, but I don’t need you to have life and light. Christ is my life and light. I don’t need you to have life and joy. Christ is my life and joy. You are not my life.” When you do that you’re shooting an arrow right into the heart of your negative emotion. That arrow says, “I am his beloved child, in whom he is well pleased. What else do I really want?” That arrow goes in there and it knocks down. It doesn’t get rid. It takes despondency into disappointment. It makes it manageable. It takes petrification into just worry. It makes it manageable. Don’t you see? The gospel, the gospel … What Jesus is, you are. This is the only way to understand yourself. When you look at the Himalayas you just know no human being raised them. When you look at the Grand Canyon you just know no human being dug it. When you look at the gospel you just know no human being thought it up. Friends, do you see what your problem is? You can always understand it and best understand it in terms of the gospel. “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Look at him and say, “O Lord, you’re my life, let nothing else be my life.” And to the degree you know that, to the degree you say that, to the degree you understand that and walk with that, to that degree you will walk through this world with freedom and power. Maybe those who are the most truly heavenly minded really are the most earthly good. - Tim Keller If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Colossias 3:1-4
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:25:03 +0000
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