Do we have to call it THAT??

Allow yourself to humor me for just a moment.  I have a point to make and I can’t think of a better example.

Picture someone putting two glasses in front of you, one filled with water, and the other with gasoline.  Would you be at all tempted to drink the gasoline?  I believe it is reasonable to assume that if you were thirsty, without hesitation, you would reach for the water.

Wouldn’t it be nice if every choice we made throughout the day would be so simple?  Wouldn’t it be nice if every choice we made throughout the day proved to be so right?  So right for our pallet, so right for our health, so right in our ability to enjoy life to its fullest.

The word “sin” carries such a negative stigmatism that we tend to struggle with accepting that it is an intimate part of our day to day lives.  Don’t get me wrong here.  I know and understand that “sin” is death, it is pain, suffering, and all that destroys.  But humor me again and put that off to the side for a minute.

I am so fortunate that I am blessed with a wonderful mother.  She is a Buddhist nun and she lives here at our home with us.  Over the years we have learned to communicate and discuss spiritual things at an incredible level without offence one to the other.  Together we are seekers of TRUTH.  One of the many things she has taught me is a different way to look at sin.  I use this term when discussing things with her.  It makes it easier to bridge the communication gap.  I believe all people could benefit from seeing “sin” from my mom’s perspective.  Her teachings have led her to seeing sin as “unskillful”.  This almost sounds passé but don’t be too quick to judge.  Remember, my mom and I have both agreed that we are on the journey to discover TRUTH.  Anything that would take us off that journey would be unskillful; anything that provides us with a deeper knowledge of TRUTH would then be considered skillful.  I find it skillful to see it this way because it helps me accept what God is showing me with less defensiveness which brings about a quicker transformation in my life.

The reality is that most of us really truly do desire to have peace in our lives, we desire to progress through this existence loving others and being loved by others.  We have a desire to live stress free lives through which we enjoy the circumstances we find ourselves in and the relationships we have with the people we find ourselves in the midst of.  The reality is that there is a way of life that delivers this, and there is a way of life that does not.  Simply put, TRUTH is the reality of what delivers this existence that we all so deeply desire.

As we progress through life we have choices.  How we respond to the circumstances of life will either lift us up or tear us down.  Skillful responses are those that provide that greater sense of well-being, peace, and love.  Unskillful responses are those that lead to any form of undesirable feeling within our own psyche.  As such, those decisions that bring us closer to TRUTH are those that are skillful, and those that lead us further away from TRUTH are unskillful.  As we live our lives we have an impact on those around us.  It is without question that those things that we do that are skillful are the same things that bring peace and joy into the lives of other.  Likewise, it is those unskillful things that bring death and destruction into the lives of others.

The TRUTH is that we are so offended by the word sin we tend to not allow ourselves to see the reality of our own unskillful responses.  When we don’t let ourselves see the lack of skill we are exhibiting in our living we keep ourselves from growing, we hurt others, and worst of all…….we are not demonstrating a way of life that will allow God to use us as an example to lead others to TRUTH.

God loves us and He wants us all to be free of the responses that lead to anything short of peace, well-being, and love.  This is why He gave us His TRUTH, this is why He gave us His son.  This is why Christ accepted His roll on the cross.  This is the freedom from sin that is promised throughout scripture.  Sure, there is an eternal form of salvation that awaits us.  In this discussion I am not speaking of that salvation.  I am speaking of the salvation offered, promised, and obtainable right here in this life.  It is the salvation that leads others to God’s truth.  It is the salvation that spreads the gospel, it is the salvation that proves His TRUTH to be TRUE.

If we are not letting His TRUTH speak to us and show us where we are living unskillful lives, we tend to allow ourselves to remain in bondage to the things of this world.  If we remain in bondage to the things of this world how will God use us to prove that His TRUTH is true?  How can He use us to prove that His TRUTH is what delivers all that it promises?  Who will have the credibility to stand witness to His TRUTH if we don’t let His TRUTH transform our lives? 

Regardless as to what theology you have been taught, regardless as to what you have been told about sin, this is the hard reality.  God has chosen us, to accept his TRUTH, to live that TRUTH out, to let it save us from the bondage of this world for the purpose of leading others to accepting IT and being set free by IT.  His desire is that we all become so aware of the pain of sin that we reject it like it was a glass of gasoline.  Anything short of that is unskillful and an opportunity for change; change that will bring greater joy into our own lives, the lives of those around us, and make us a better witness to HIS TRUTH.

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.  The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;  but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.  

The reality is, what glass we reach for is proof of who’s promises we trust.  If we trust God’s we reach for the water, if we trust Satan’s we reach for the gas.  The proof of our faith is in the choices we make and the ease at which we make those choices.  A life of joy, peace, and love is the evidence of our faith as we allow God to show us what skillful living is all about.

I pray that through this blog you have allowed yourself to see something that is keeping you from allowing God to use you to prove Himself TRUE, that through this you will discover a new life, a new way, and in so doing be blessed with a brighter future.