“Your old nature wants to be perfect. It will push you in every way to be an outstanding Christian.
Please avoid this trap.
Simply follow Jesus. You do not need to see yourself as a wise, strong, and virtuous person.
Just be a little child.”
-Fenelon
“Those who correct others should watch for the Holy Spirit to go ahead of them and touch a person’s heart. Learn to imitate Him who reproves gently. People do not need to see God condemning them, they must realize within themselves that they have done something wrong. Do not be heavy-handed lest people see God as a judgmental ogre. When you become outraged over a person’s fault, it is generally not “righteous indignation” but your own impatient personality expressing itself.
Here is the imperfect pointing a finger at the the imperfect.
The more you selfishly love yourself, the more critical you will be. Self-love cannot forgive the self-love it discovers in others. Nothing is so offensive to a haughty, conceited heart as the sight of another one.
God’s love, however, if is full of consideration, patience, and tenderness. It leads people out of their weakness and sin one step at a time. Wait a long time, wait years, before giving advice. And then only give advice as God opens the hearts of those who are to receive it. If you pick fruit before the fruit ripens, you will spoil it completely.”
Francois Fenelon, The Seeking Heart
I thought I’d share this in light of Good Friday, when Jesus took our condemnation upon himself.
And in light of the week the church has just experienced with the LGBT community.
We are too quick to condemn communities whose views, beliefs and lifestyles are different than our own, while seemingly forgetting communities are formed by individual people whom God dearly, dearly loves.
People he wants you to love, more than you love yourself.
That is what we witness in the darkest hour of human history. Jesus, having done nothing wrong, forsaken by his Father, so that you and I, and sinners the world over, wouldn’t be subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:39-43
We too easily forget our own sentence of condemnation. A sentence we have received justly, just like the criminal who hung next to Jesus. Who are we then, to condemn others?
God will teach you more than even the most mature Christian could. He will teach you better than all the books in the world could. Why are you so eager to chase after knowledge? Don’t you realize that all you need is to be poor in spirit, and to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified? Knowledge puffs up, it is only love that builds up. Be content with love alone.
What! Do you think that the way to love God comes by getting more knowledge? You have already more than you can use. Practice what you already know rather than looking for more knowledge. You deceive yourself if you think you are growing spiritually because your curiosity has intellectually explored some spiritual idea. Humble yourself, and do not expect to receive from man that which God alone can give.
Francois Fenelon, The Seeking Heart
It is not surprising that you are very ambitious to advance in your spiritual life, and to find yourself in the company of those who have a reputation for being spiritual. No matter what it looks like, these things still flatter your self-love. Do not seek to fulfill your ambitions of becoming more spiritual, or to be counted in the company of those people who are honored for their spirituality. Your aim should be to die to all such ambitions by letting yourself be humbled. You must learn to accept obscurity and scornful disregard while you keep your eyes solely on God.
You may hear endless sermons about living a perfect life. You may know what everyone preaches about it and still be farther away from perfection than ever. Your deepest aim should be to turn a deaf ear to self, while listening to God in silence. You should renounce your pride and give yourself over to what pleases God. Say little and do much-without wondering if you have been noticed or not.
Francois Fenelon, The Seeking Heart
“And Benedict has stood against the nihilism that defines human worth in terms of power and usefulness. He has constantly spoken for those whose lives are seen as a burden to society: the baby with Down syndrome, the woman with advanced Alzheimer’s, the child starving in the desert, the prisoner being tortured. These lives aren’t things, he has said, but images of God, and for them we will give an account. When society wants to dehumanize with language: “embryo,” “fetus,” “anchor baby,” “illegal alien,” “collateral damage,” and so on, Benedict has stood firmly to point to the human faces the world is seeking to wipe away.”
-Russell Moore on Pope Benedict’s legacy and resignation.
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/02/an-evangelical-looks-at-pope-benedict-xvi
