Humility

First, I apologize for the less than creative name. I'm a bit pressed for time (so this will be short), but I really wanted to share some thoughts from our campus chapel service this morning.
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4
Being humble is such a slippery slope, and our struggles can go both ways. Obviously pride is not a good thing in excess. We should be proud of our accomplishments, but not brag or be arrogant. Yet humility can also be taken too far. It's easy to consider others as better than yourself when your opinion of yourself is so low that it would be hard to find someone worse. Self esteem is very important. We cannot love others the way we were meant to if we don't first show love to ourselves. So pride and humility, like many other things in life, have to be kept in a tricky balance. 
It helps to look at the second sentence of the passage. A great way to show humility is to care about the lives and goals of others, rather than just your own. Helping someone better themselves shows that you think they're important. It (hopefully, if they follow your example) begins a cycle of caring that may make it's way back to you someday. Although it can be said that "nice guys finish last", it can also sometimes be said that they get a bigger reward for their patience in the end. Although it's frustrating to feel overlooked, wouldn't you prefer having the respect that results when the rest of the world realizes that you have worth, and you don't demand recognition for it? God's Word never fails to improve our lives (better than we could do by our own instincts), even though it's hard to carry out sometimes.

Say What?

Maybe it's heretical to say this, but from a human perspective it's true: The Bible can be frustrating sometimes.

Seriously, maybe you don't have a jar of Bible verses on slips of paper like I do, but there are other times when a verse comes up somewhere (church, a book, the internet) and strikes your heart, but you have no idea why. You're left wondering, "Why does this affect me? What am I supposed to get from this? Is there some obvious application that I'm missing?" This very situation just happened for me, and thankfully I do have a jar of verses, and I just drew another one (which ended up being two). 
The first verse was Psalm 119:105, a very familiar section: "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." In this case I wasn't really confused about why it struck me. There's definitely things I and the people around me are going through right now (and always, but especially right now) that are in serious need of divine guidance. But this verse is one that makes you say, "Okay...what now?" It's a wonderful reminder that we should look to God first when we don't know where to go, but where am I supposed to look? Again, thank God I have more verses to pull from.
The next verse I looked at was 2 Corinthians 4:17, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."     Now that's a different thought. It feels like a primer. God says to look to his Word, but rather than always giving instructions right away he begins with comfort. What a testimony of how our God loves us! He understands that we get overwhelmed. So he reminds us that, firstly, our troubles are not as huge as they seem. It's a reality check. We make all kinds of decisions and run into all kinds of issues every day. Some of them truly are momentary. Some of them have lasting effects. All of them pale in comparison to what's really important. Christ suffered all the pain and frustration we do and then died a brutally painful death so that we might have rest and glory at the end of our days. We can breathe deeply and trust in God's mercy and love, knowing that he's been there and he won't just let us ruin our lives. He's watching out for us!
So I went on to read the third verse that fell out "on accident". This one was Isaiah 51:7: "Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults."
As always with God's Word, the answer isn't unmistakably clear. We still have free will. Unfortunately God doesn't just whisper instructions specific to each day when we wake up. However, it gives a good piece of advice: In the end, as long as you're following God's will to the best of your knowledge and ability, the opinions of people aren't that important. In all likelihood, every major decision we make in our lives will be criticized by someone, whether it's an acquaintance that barely influences us or our closest friends and family members. That's why it's so important to pray. Maybe it's hokey, or hard to believe, but I think that when a right decision is made God puts peace in our hearts. Feeling confused and conflicted is normal. But after prayer and consideration the conflict should give way to joy, however tentative. God has a plan for all of us, and he never lets us stray too far from the fold.

 

Let's just call it "Love".

Love. It's incredible. It's incredibly complicated. It can be applied to a million different areas of our human lives. There are so many different kinds of love. The Greek language has four words that are encompassed by the single English word "love". (If I could remember what all four of those words are off the top of my head I would share them with you. Unfortunately I can only think of one right now.) We love our family, friends, "significant others", and spouses. We should love God. If we love God, then we should show love to everyone. Unfortunately, love is sometimes a difficult emotion. 
Today (because it's been on my heart lately), I want to take a hard look at romantic love. This love is unique. Everyone is born into a family. So even though their parents may not choose to love them, everyone at least has that option. God loves every living thing. Although many people choose to ignore it and shy away from God's love, it is there. Romantic love is unique in that we must seek it. We are not born into romance. It can be argued that everyone has a destined "soulmate", but that person must be found and pursued. 
For the sake of ease, I'm just going to talk from my perspective, that of a female. A boyfriend is a wonderful thing, but they can be the hardest to love. My parents, and even God, make me angry sometimes. But I've been loving them my whole life, so it hardly seems an option to just forget about them. Boyfriends are different though. They present a choice. And it is indeed a choice. Sometimes you don't feel like loving someone, but really loving them is remembering that they deserve your understanding. Emotions feel urgent. Love is calm. 
You know, I really don't have everything (or even many things) figured out, so I should probably stop spouting my wisdom. What does God's Word say about love? (I'm finally going to look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8) "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." The section goes on to speak more wise words about the temporary nature of everything else, and the fact that we cannot see or understand everything, no matter how much we learn. I'll focus on the section I quoted though. The question is: Should this really be applied to romantic love? My personal answer: Of course! My basic belief is that the love you share with someone you marry should encompass any and all kinds of love. 
So does that mean that I or any other dating or married person love perfectly, according to God's instructions? Not nearly. The reason I'm looking at this passage and sharing it with you is that I know I've failed in the past and recently. I need to study every part of this verse and try every day to do what it says, because the reason God put it in his Word was to give us instructions on how to be happy. What happens when I'm impatient? Pain. I can't make time go any faster, no matter how much I want to. What about when I'm envious? Pain. I'm only wishing for things I can't have. And when I'm boastful? Pain. It only hurts my boyfriend when I remind him of what he can't have, and what hurts him hurts me in the end. Everything in that passage is a sure way to avoid pain, and I'm guilty of neglecting them all. I'm selfish, hotheaded, and I hold grudges. I lose faith and hope and feel like I cannot go on. And because of all these things, sometimes my love fails. But God is always there to remind me how to fix it, and lend me the strength to do so. Sometimes things don't go the way I want them to, and I think I know best. In the end though, everything always works out better than I ever could have planned. The very end of 1 Corinthians 13 reminds me of God's plan. After reminding me how often I fail, how blind I am, and how perishable earthly things are, the writer concludes (better than any conclusion I could ever write): "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."