According to the social comparison theory we subconsciously have the tendency to compare ourselves with the social group with whom we belong to or recognize; and that social comparison is healthy as long as it causes us to grow, strive, and develop in our lives and well-being.
As children of God, we also develop the tendency to compare ourselves with the characters in the Bible and sometimes incidents that relate to the Lord Himself. We would often hear people say, "Even Jesus got angry" really not understanding the context of their anger or in turn its expression. If everyone of us can take examples of Jesus's anger and compare ourselves with Jesus I presume it would be ridiculous. The anger of Jesus was not personal but public; it was righteous anger and not based on hurtful ego. We can be in grave danger of social comparison if we are not making them in the right context.
Have you ever heard people say, "I showed the other side face to the one who slapped me just like the way Jesus said" (not literally)... meaning to say I allowed others to hurl insults and/or humiliation at me when they offended me? Rarely...When we cannot dare to make such comparisons with Jesus how can we make any comparisons at all with the great King?
Is there no instance in the Bible which we can use to compare ourselves with the Lord. I doubt so. However, there is one statement of Lord Jesus which we can take it personally. We all know that Jesus was not loved, accepted and acknowledged by all as God. The Pharisees and the Sadducees hated him. If He being good refrained to be called as good, how can we expect others to perceive us as good?
(Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19).
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
We mortals are no good to compare ourselves with the Great and Good Lord- A thought to ponder...
Monday, September 1, 2014
Friday, August 29, 2014
What's in a Relationship?
It has been observed that everybody engages in a relationship with some kind of expectation be it among friends, colleagues, acquaintances, relatives, or even within the close families. As long as we expect love and empathy from one another without any added strings... relationships function smoothly. However, when people have hidden strings attached to the expectations like fulfilling of personal goals, financial gains or motives, expecting other benefits out of a relationship it becomes easily exposed spoiling the essence of that relationship...
Apostle Paul exhorts us on this point by saying
Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another [Rom 13:8 (NLT)]
If we learn to love one another without expecting anything in return except for love...life and relationships would be much easier. Yet not all realize and practice this simple life lesson.
So what would you do if you have loved someone selflessly and that the person at the receiving end has not acknowledged or accepted that love and has failed to reciprocate in return...There is a lesson to learn. We cannot pour buckets of water in the dessert and expect to turn it into an oasis. Instead of giving love to someone who doesn't know the value of it...it is ideal to give to those who knows how to value it and reciprocate equally.
I would like to refer to a quote from Everyday Life Lessons by Angel Chernoff:
Without communication there is no relationship; without respect there is no love; without trust there’s no reason to continue.
Apostle Paul exhorts us on this point by saying
Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another [Rom 13:8 (NLT)]
If we learn to love one another without expecting anything in return except for love...life and relationships would be much easier. Yet not all realize and practice this simple life lesson.
So what would you do if you have loved someone selflessly and that the person at the receiving end has not acknowledged or accepted that love and has failed to reciprocate in return...There is a lesson to learn. We cannot pour buckets of water in the dessert and expect to turn it into an oasis. Instead of giving love to someone who doesn't know the value of it...it is ideal to give to those who knows how to value it and reciprocate equally.
I would like to refer to a quote from Everyday Life Lessons by Angel Chernoff:
Without communication there is no relationship; without respect there is no love; without trust there’s no reason to continue.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
The Difference in Paul's Attitude
In 1 Cor 15:10 Apostle Paul says, "But by the grace of God I am what I am..." is a statement which Paul made about himself showing his confidence as a changed man. In today's Christian circle people of God take up this statement and make it their own very easily to show their confidence about themselves or their spiritual stand.
However, each of us are in danger of misinterpreting this statement before making it personal. For instance, I have come across a majority of people who claim that ..."I am what I am by the grace of God" who turn out to be snobbish looking down on others. This is not the attitude displayed by Apostle Paul. If we too are confident of who we are in God, then we will not disregard others or look down on others. We will treat each individual with respect, appreciate their uniqueness and individuality and finally accept their personality trait which may be different from our own.
Apostle Paul was confident of his changed personality and character in God which was a contradicting to his personality and character as Saul. When he was Saul perhaps he was proud and snobbish due to his religious zeal. However, when he changed into Paul as a person, he was aware of his shortcomings, his fallen state as a human being, the ugliness of his self-righteousness or pride, the need for divine grace and mercy to be pardoned and accepted by God; and his ability to stand before God due to the righteousness freely derived on account of Jesus. This realization enabled Paul to have the right kind of confidence in himself in God...
Let us also make this our personal statement by adopting the right kind of attitude like Paul and claim with confidence "I am what I am by the grace of Jesus"...
However, each of us are in danger of misinterpreting this statement before making it personal. For instance, I have come across a majority of people who claim that ..."I am what I am by the grace of God" who turn out to be snobbish looking down on others. This is not the attitude displayed by Apostle Paul. If we too are confident of who we are in God, then we will not disregard others or look down on others. We will treat each individual with respect, appreciate their uniqueness and individuality and finally accept their personality trait which may be different from our own.
Apostle Paul was confident of his changed personality and character in God which was a contradicting to his personality and character as Saul. When he was Saul perhaps he was proud and snobbish due to his religious zeal. However, when he changed into Paul as a person, he was aware of his shortcomings, his fallen state as a human being, the ugliness of his self-righteousness or pride, the need for divine grace and mercy to be pardoned and accepted by God; and his ability to stand before God due to the righteousness freely derived on account of Jesus. This realization enabled Paul to have the right kind of confidence in himself in God...
Let us also make this our personal statement by adopting the right kind of attitude like Paul and claim with confidence "I am what I am by the grace of Jesus"...
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Free Advice?
Right from the time I accepted Lord Jesus till this date, my perception about following Him was to imitate His ways in doing things, thinking patterns and become a better person keeping Him as my model. My ideology of Christianity was to imitate Him rather than receiving blessings ideology of life. I am aware that I miserably fail at times with my human efforts but I keep striving my best without giving up with a hope that change is constant depending on His grace.
Very quickly even I got influenced by the concept of preaching and I had been an active preacher for years soon realizing the fact that preaching is easy while sincerely practicing the same is difficult. It is so easy to give a free piece of advice to others especially through tough times. Will I be able to adhere to the same when it comes to me personally? I gave up on the concept of preaching since a few years now and I got focused on practicing my faith in my personal life. And again my intention of blogging is not focused on preaching but personal reflection with open room for others to think critically, reflect and take ideologies or concepts that suits people and their lives.
A free piece of advice is an inappropriate profession! It is the most easiest and the simplest task in this world and invariably it is FREE...
Do this...Do that...Don't do this...or that...Instead why not take that question personally.
In spite of telling someone to do something...why not we tell ourselves "Why don't I do that myself?" or "Why don't I mind my own business?"
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (PHILLIPS)
Be busy with your own affairs and do your work yourselves. The result will be a reputation for honesty in the world outside and an honorable independence.
It is ideal to change our ways of thinking, behaving and decision-making rather than wasting our time as well as others by giving a Free Piece of Advice...
Very quickly even I got influenced by the concept of preaching and I had been an active preacher for years soon realizing the fact that preaching is easy while sincerely practicing the same is difficult. It is so easy to give a free piece of advice to others especially through tough times. Will I be able to adhere to the same when it comes to me personally? I gave up on the concept of preaching since a few years now and I got focused on practicing my faith in my personal life. And again my intention of blogging is not focused on preaching but personal reflection with open room for others to think critically, reflect and take ideologies or concepts that suits people and their lives.
A free piece of advice is an inappropriate profession! It is the most easiest and the simplest task in this world and invariably it is FREE...
Do this...Do that...Don't do this...or that...Instead why not take that question personally.
In spite of telling someone to do something...why not we tell ourselves "Why don't I do that myself?" or "Why don't I mind my own business?"
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (PHILLIPS)
Be busy with your own affairs and do your work yourselves. The result will be a reputation for honesty in the world outside and an honorable independence.
It is ideal to change our ways of thinking, behaving and decision-making rather than wasting our time as well as others by giving a Free Piece of Advice...
Monday, August 11, 2014
A Colossal Habit?
If we ask ourselves genuinely...sincerely listening to our heart's voice..."What have you been doing recently?" (or even years for that matter), we can become aware that most of the time we have been spending talking about others. It can be about...
what others did or did not do...
what they should have done or shouldn't have...
why they did or did not do...
Do we call this 'gossip'? Whatever it be labelled as is not the matter of concern. What matters the most is that we are indulging ourselves needlessly by talking about others actions and behaviors, and exploring reasons or motives behind them.
How often do we spend time by talking about others? Why is it so hard for us to be focused on our own lives with regard to decisions, behaviors, communication patterns, choices, perceptions and attitudes. Why we do get so indulged in others affairs...Is this a colossal habit? Oh Yes! And we soon need to break free from this habit...
Apostle Paul has a good piece of advice for us to do it...
1 Thessalonians 4:11 (NIV)
and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands.
A quiet life and minding our own business will help us stop thinking and talking needlessly about others...
what others did or did not do...
what they should have done or shouldn't have...
why they did or did not do...
Do we call this 'gossip'? Whatever it be labelled as is not the matter of concern. What matters the most is that we are indulging ourselves needlessly by talking about others actions and behaviors, and exploring reasons or motives behind them.
How often do we spend time by talking about others? Why is it so hard for us to be focused on our own lives with regard to decisions, behaviors, communication patterns, choices, perceptions and attitudes. Why we do get so indulged in others affairs...Is this a colossal habit? Oh Yes! And we soon need to break free from this habit...
Apostle Paul has a good piece of advice for us to do it...
1 Thessalonians 4:11 (NIV)
and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands.
A quiet life and minding our own business will help us stop thinking and talking needlessly about others...
Thursday, August 7, 2014
The Good News in the Gospel
Mark 7:35-36 (NIV)
35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.
Mark 8:29-30 (NIV)
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus asked his disciples and other people not to tell about Him. It can be well seen that Jesus did not adopt strategies to promote Himself. As as far as we have seen in the gospels Jesus did not actively involve bringing people to Himself. To one man Jesus advised him to go back to his house and share with his family the good news of what God did to him (Mark 5:18-19); to another Jesus laid a criteria for following Him (Mat 19:21) and to some He simply asked them to follow Him (Mark 4:19, John 1:43).Why do you think that Jesus gave different instructions to different people? Jesus could very clearly read the heart and the intentions of men and advised people accordingly.
Jesus did preach the good news of the kingdom of God. It is something like the vast difference between the white and the black, the light and the darkness.He never took efforts to attract people to Himself. There is a difference between telling the truth and bringing people to Jesus. Instead of bringing people to Jesus for healing, blessing, prosperity and other good tidings, it is always better to allow people to make their choices to choose Jesus based on their individual personal experience knowing the fact that those who are thirsty will be filled from the living waters (Isa 55:1, John 7:38).
35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.
Mark 8:29-30 (NIV)
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus asked his disciples and other people not to tell about Him. It can be well seen that Jesus did not adopt strategies to promote Himself. As as far as we have seen in the gospels Jesus did not actively involve bringing people to Himself. To one man Jesus advised him to go back to his house and share with his family the good news of what God did to him (Mark 5:18-19); to another Jesus laid a criteria for following Him (Mat 19:21) and to some He simply asked them to follow Him (Mark 4:19, John 1:43).Why do you think that Jesus gave different instructions to different people? Jesus could very clearly read the heart and the intentions of men and advised people accordingly.
Jesus did preach the good news of the kingdom of God. It is something like the vast difference between the white and the black, the light and the darkness.He never took efforts to attract people to Himself. There is a difference between telling the truth and bringing people to Jesus. Instead of bringing people to Jesus for healing, blessing, prosperity and other good tidings, it is always better to allow people to make their choices to choose Jesus based on their individual personal experience knowing the fact that those who are thirsty will be filled from the living waters (Isa 55:1, John 7:38).
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Preaching the Gospel
One may ask me if you believe that people are going to come to God without preaching how on earth will the gospel spread to the world. Right question. Without preaching the gospel will not spread in this world. But today the gospel is being spread so widely both in effective and ineffective ways. What concerns me more is when the life of people sharing the gospel is contrary to their faith, then their preaching is seldom serving the purpose. Unfortunately, the percentage of this kind of folks is higher than those who sincerely live a godly life and preach the gospel in simple and powerful ways.
In my perception, God has his own ways of reaching to people's heart. Most of them come to Jesus to receive a benefit and then once that is fulfilled or their inner motives are unfulfilled they quit Him and His ways. Anyways, God knows His sheep as well as the goats. What I have observed in my years in the Lord is that if someone is really and wholeheartedly searching to know God, He knows how to guide them in knowing Him. For instance, all my life as far as I remember I had a quest for knowing the deeper meaning of life like: Who is God? What is life? What is the truth?
Years later, I found God (or rather God helped me find Him) and Jesus opened my eyes to see that He is the Life. He is the Truth and He is the way to God (the Father) (John 14:6). Each person who have a deeper thirst in knowing God, He is sure to make a way to know Him. Nobody came to me to preach the gospel, no one convinced me going to church. God has his ways of reaching a man's heart. I am not saying that one shouldn't be actively preaching God's Word. Yes, people of God are chosen to do that.
But as an ordinary child of God each one of us has a philosophy to express faith or preach the gospel in different ways. I am often reminded of what Smith Wigglesworth, a pioneer of Pentecostal Revival did in one instance. Rev. Smith was the most vibrant preacher of God. Once on a visit with his friend, he saw a group of men working on an over bridge construction. Smith walked towards them and his friend was sure that Rev. Smith would seize the opportunity and preach the gospel. However, Rev. Smith did not do so and this surprised his friend. When inquired why he did not tell them anything about Jesus, Rev. Smith replied "I have left behind the presence of God with them and I am sure this will make a difference".
Though Jesus actively preached the Kingdom of God to men, there are many instances which we see where He asked people not to tell what He did. I often wondered why? Jesus never wanted people to go behind miracles... but follow Him with an inner quest of knowing Him (the Way, the Truth and the Life).
Rev. Selwyn Hughes says that there is a deep inner thirst in each soul to know the truth about God and Life. In my opinion a soul that identifies this thirst and pursues the quest of knowing them, then God has His way of reaching that soul...
John 8:32 (NIV)
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
In my perception, God has his own ways of reaching to people's heart. Most of them come to Jesus to receive a benefit and then once that is fulfilled or their inner motives are unfulfilled they quit Him and His ways. Anyways, God knows His sheep as well as the goats. What I have observed in my years in the Lord is that if someone is really and wholeheartedly searching to know God, He knows how to guide them in knowing Him. For instance, all my life as far as I remember I had a quest for knowing the deeper meaning of life like: Who is God? What is life? What is the truth?
Years later, I found God (or rather God helped me find Him) and Jesus opened my eyes to see that He is the Life. He is the Truth and He is the way to God (the Father) (John 14:6). Each person who have a deeper thirst in knowing God, He is sure to make a way to know Him. Nobody came to me to preach the gospel, no one convinced me going to church. God has his ways of reaching a man's heart. I am not saying that one shouldn't be actively preaching God's Word. Yes, people of God are chosen to do that.
But as an ordinary child of God each one of us has a philosophy to express faith or preach the gospel in different ways. I am often reminded of what Smith Wigglesworth, a pioneer of Pentecostal Revival did in one instance. Rev. Smith was the most vibrant preacher of God. Once on a visit with his friend, he saw a group of men working on an over bridge construction. Smith walked towards them and his friend was sure that Rev. Smith would seize the opportunity and preach the gospel. However, Rev. Smith did not do so and this surprised his friend. When inquired why he did not tell them anything about Jesus, Rev. Smith replied "I have left behind the presence of God with them and I am sure this will make a difference".
Though Jesus actively preached the Kingdom of God to men, there are many instances which we see where He asked people not to tell what He did. I often wondered why? Jesus never wanted people to go behind miracles... but follow Him with an inner quest of knowing Him (the Way, the Truth and the Life).
Rev. Selwyn Hughes says that there is a deep inner thirst in each soul to know the truth about God and Life. In my opinion a soul that identifies this thirst and pursues the quest of knowing them, then God has His way of reaching that soul...
John 8:32 (NIV)
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
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