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On Being Christian - Signs of the Self-Reliant
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| The self-reliant believer is easliy spotted, they are the ones that chastise themselves for making a mistake. Iregardless of the size or importance of this error, they profess loudly and angerily at their disappointment with themselves "The gloomy and disconsolate their grief, the more it shows that they relied too much on themselves and too little on God." Their anger is brought on by their disbelief that they made a mistake - which, in iteself, implies that they thought they were perfect.
The self-reliant is also very quick to correct himself, even going so far as to calling themself "Stupid" or "Idiot!" When in fact, to fail is an extension of our very existence and therefore it should be expected that our efforts are imperfect. Only when we invite God to participate with actively in everything that we do, does that venture become blessed with His perfection. The self-reliant is also very forgiving of others, for they view others as less than themselves. But they share not this compassion on themselves for they view themselves harsher than. There is no "I" in Jesus - there is only "us". Jesus Christ knows our imperfections for it is these very imperfections for which He came. For if our entrance into Heaven was based solely living a righteous and Godly life, then there would have been no reason for Jesus Christ to die on the cross. All that would have been siad is to live a life as Noah, or Abraham, or Joseph (son of Jacob). Our entrance into eternal life is not by our hand, and therefore to be reliant solely on our own abilities brings us to the gate, but not into the kingdom. Entrance into the kingdom is only through God, His Son and the Holy Spirit. St. James aid it best, "you do not knowwhat will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that."(a) The one who is not self-reliant, but relies on God, is the one calm during a storm. When the God-trusting believer falls or makes a mistake, they are comforted by the fact that God's will is at hand. Even in difficult times, the true believer knows that God's Glory will be manifested and that the purpose for this struggle was for a greater good that only God foresees. As we stated earlier, He sits on the mountain top and sees our progression upward and the unseen enemy's efforst on the other side. He may direct us a different route, and even more difficult route. Though we may grumble and complain as to why we must take the difficult route and not the easy route, we trust in God's all-seeing knowledge. And so this struggle we undertake at His will is for our own protection. "Count it all joy," says St. James. "when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."(b). When you have Hope on God, faith in His Will - you have patience. ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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Based on the writings of Saint Nicodemus in Unseen Warfare.
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