"Become the kind of person the kind of person you would like to marry would like to marry."
The above quote is something I've been thinking on recently. Am I that person? Probably not. But by thinking through it, I've been able to pin-point specific areas in my life that I ought to improve in, both spiritually and mentally. However, it's not just about improving ourselves so that a certain type of person would be attracted to us, but about evaluating areas in which we need to improve. I think everyone, married and single alike, should be regularly evaluate themselves. Am I improving in the area of a particular besetting sin? Am I moving forward in my sanctification by the help of the Holy Spirit? Sure, we won't be perfect until we are with our Saviour, but like an athlete in training, we should be constantly checking our progress and seeing in what areas we need to improve. As we mature in Christ, moving from milk to meat, there we be different struggles at different times but we should always be continuing forward with the help of Jesus. In the words of Paul, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Let us look for those sins that cling so closely and fling them off with the help of our Saviour as we seek to become more and more like Him.
We have a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on. I used to think that they are primarily there to shame us into good deeds, but I think they are actually there to cheer us on. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the rest were not stellar Christians but they are cheering us on and encouraging us to do better.
ReplyDeleteBesides improving ourselves we should be standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. We should take any godly heritage passed on from our direct ancestors and then simply learn from the mistakes of previous generations. Sometimes all we learn is how God is still loving even when we fall as low as they did, but we are still learning from them.
As a word of caution we must be very careful evaluating our own sanctification. As soon as we begin to see ourselves gaining victory over sin pride is right there to creep in. So we must keep that balance delicately. Often times it is much better to ask for another to evaluate us. "Sweet is the rebuke of a friend." If we know we have a certain sin it is good and right to seek to overcome that, but for the most part we should be very cautious about examining ourselves too closely. We can easily become self-centered and forget about loving others or God. When we focus on our own godliness it can be very hard to not be condescending (at least in our hearts) towards others who we deem (perhaps rightly) less godly or mature.
All that said, it certainly is a good and interesting quote and worth taking to heart. However, many times we can improve best merely by thinking about others more than ourselves.
Thanks for your input! Good thoughts. :) Yes, the balance there is delicate. We shouldn't reach a certain standard and just switch into "cruise control", but then we shouldn't be contantly "navel gazing" either. I personally tend to go into autopilot, and thus lean towards trying to examine myself more and remind myself that it is all only by His grace and mercy.
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