If the answer to this question is yes, then those who
continue to suffer with addiction do so from weak minds, or rather weak
wills. It implies that the addict
deserves his condition, is ultimately responsible for his condition, and could
at will (perhaps guided by the new onslaught of self-help books in this area),
just say no. Nancy Reagan was widely
ridiculed for this proposal some time ago, but current thinking has once again
broached the subject.
But to isolate your thinking around just the question of
self-victory or not, is a bit too limited for those who accept the premise of a
loving creator God. For if again the
answer is yes, you can indeed overcome addiction by yourself, does it not raise
some other interesting questions. For
example, can you truly love someone without knowing our Creator God? Many around the world profess love for each
other, who do not believe in any god, let alone our God. Do their professions of love ring true?
I guess the answer to that question goes back to how you
define love in the first place. If you
define love by the example our God has given us, then our very basic picture of
love would include … self sacrifice, serving others with no thought of reward
or gain of any kind, humility, forgiveness, unconditional acceptance, mercy to
those without, giving more to enemies than they would take, offering kind words
to everyone, finding the value in each individual. These are just a few of the very demonstrable
traits of love our Creator God has personally shown us. Do those unconnected with our God use this
definition of the feelings they call love?
Or is love-apart-from-God really only an internal feeling of euphoria
brought on by chemical reactions in the brain when attracted to another
individual. These feelings are often
intense, but seldom last life times, and in point of fact, are very self
serving in nature. In fairness, they
were only meant to establish connections, not prolong them.
But if you accept that you can conquer your own addictions
by sheer force of will, and that anyone can love even if they are unacquainted
with our God, then perhaps you might also accept that if you can perfectly keep
the law of God, you would then be worthy of heaven itself? It is surprising how closely the answers to
these 3 questions can be linked. Why
can’t man save himself, if he has the power of will to overcome his evil
addictions, and apparently the internal ability to perfectly create love for
others within himself? Is not perfect
love, and perfect adherence to the law, the two conditions we expect to see in
heaven when we get there?
All this kind of thinking is designed for one thing: to
focus attention on self and away from our Savior. It is easier sometimes to talk about our
Creator God, than our Savior God (even though they are same being). Creator refers to an event long ago and
merely establishes ownership or dominance; whereas “Savior” defines our
weakness and need of salvation in present terms. This entire line of thinking that focus’ on
self-reliance and independence is designed for nothing more than diverting the
mind and eyes away from Jesus Christ.
While we do not look to our true Savior, we replace Him with a more
popular alternative – ourselves. We like
the idea of earning heaven more than inheriting it as a gift. We like the idea that we could by force of
will, learn to belong in heaven, rather than have to admit our complete
inability to change, and our desperate need of a Savior. In short we like the illusion of control.
But control is no more than illusion. When gathered many years from now on streets
of gold with no names, the redeemed throngs will have one thing in common in
the personal stories of their salvation from evil – Jesus Christ. Jesus will be the hero of every single
story. No man will stand and say he is
there by might, by sheer force of will, or through his stringent ability to
keep the law. Everyone will acknowledge
they are there through the mercy, love, and forgiveness of a God who alone is
worthy of praise. In humility we will
recognize our former conditions as addicts of evil, hooked on the junk we call
“fun” in our lives, powerless to overcome the self inflicted pain and evil that
masquerades as requirements. Christ
alone could save us. And when there,
Christ alone will have saved us. For
without a savior there can be no salvation.
Our society is bent around the notion of insuring we get the
proper credit for our accomplishments.
We consider it a form of severe betrayal for someone else to “grab” the
credit for our own good works. When this
occurs, we pursue the truth to vindicate our good names, and insure the
credit-grabber is rightfully derided and cast down. But to what purpose? Ego perhaps.
We feed the engine of self aggrandizement by assuming we could
accomplish anything on our own in the first place.
In truth you cannot name one single accomplishment in your
life that was not aided or influenced by others. Your childhood teachers, both parents,
family, and professionals, had much to do with any mental, or physical ability
you tout today. Genetics play a role in
your aptitudes and abilities. Efforts at
work often rely on the tools and work of others. For instance a brilliant never-seen-before
all-encompassing financial spreadsheet analysis, required the software tool
Excel, a working PC computer, a working operating system (haha), and countless
other inventions before your masterpiece could be constructed. You drive to work in a car you did not
invent, you eat food you did not grow, and rely on currency you do not
control. In short your life builds on
the work and accomplishments of almost everyone around you. No man is an island, is more true than you
realize. Therefore “your”
accomplishments can hardly be called “solo” or independent efforts. Yet the craving for credit remains.
The concept of dependence however runs exactly opposite of
growing or feeding our ego’s. We wish to
find self-worth from within, but it cannot be measured there, for the measuring
scale is simply too small. In truth, our
worth is beyond measure, but is derived from the mystery of why our Savior God
would yield up His perfect life, to spare only me. Our Savior defines love in a way we wish to
know more about, and will require an infinite amount of time to really understand. Our dependence, our weakness, does not
diminish our self-worth. It acknowledges
the truth about where our worth originates from. All credit is due to our Creator who Redeemed
us and recreated the new creatures we are to become.
It is in our weakness that His strength is made perfect. This sentiment of scripture was not merely to
point out our physical frailty, but to reinforce our need of a Savior of our
characters, our souls. We are not
designed for fighting evil, we are sheep in need of a shepherd, not a wolf
contending against another for food. We
are to be as innocent as lambs, and harmless as doves, but wise as
serpents. Discerning evil allows us to
call out for the help that will save us, it does not prepare us for
battle. We need not surrender to evil,
but to call the only force capable of defeating it into our lives, our minds,
our hearts, and our hands. We yield up
our wills to the One who saves us from ourselves.
Instead of buying into the lie of self-control and
self-reliance; why not accept the truth that His gift is enough to save even
you. Why not place your burden of evil,
your heaviness of soul, your guilt of conscience and your need for change on
the shoulders of He who can bare this burden, and return to you rest. Trade your anxiety for peace. Trade your worry for absolute assurance. Trade your fear for trust. And live a life where credit just does not
seem to matter anymore …
No comments:
Post a Comment