Good morning…

Resolutions. Some make them. Few keep them. Why, by now, have many good intentions waned? Because the focus of most resolutions is on our own external efforts. We promise to do more or less. We strive to look better, feel better, act better. At the beginning of each year, many of us commit again to perfecting our weak parts. How does this play out in our relationship with God?

“Concentrating on practices and tools of our faith (and how well we’re doing them) can be a sign of self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness: Have I prayed today? Did I pray long enough, sincerely enough for it to ‘count’ with God?” observes Jan Johnson, author, teacher, spiritual director. “We may congratulate ourselves for our consistent practices or regret our lack. We focus our efforts so that we essentially trust in ourselves… We become, in effect, ‘stars’ of our own spirituality, concentrating on our performance. In fact, Jesus must be the star of our spirituality – the focus of our attention and the one who does the heavy lifting.”

“Instead of focusing mainly on external behaviors – praying enough, reading Scripture enough, trying to be nice – we need to let the Spirit work in our inner being first and let outward actions flow from that,” Jan encourages. “The apostle Paul spoke of the “God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13, emphasis added). The Word of God is “at work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13, emphasis added). The Spirit pays careful attention to nurturing the soul, opening us up to God’s work there. As David said, “In the innermost being…You will make me know your wisdom” (Psalm 51:6, NASB, emphasis added). And Paul prayed, asking that God “may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Ephesians 3:16, emphasis added). Our external behaviors conform organically to Christ’s life as we become the kind of person within who has the right heart to do those things instead of forcing ourselves to be nice or well-behaved or confident. As we are empowered to fix our attention on God, we are gradually healed from our scattered-ness as well as from a variety of unhealthy conditions” (When the Soul Listens, 9-11).

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7b, NLT).

…Sue…