Harmony & Humility

Harmony Accomplished By Humility

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What does it look like when two people live in harmony? They might smile at each other. They might laugh a lot. If two people are in harmony with one another, you would never see them fighting. They would never avoid eye contact with one another. They would never use cutting sarcasm with, or say anything mean about, the other person. Harmonious relationships are good relationships. They can be a great source of joy, encouragement, and strength.

Relationships in which there is some hostility or friction, however, can be quite the opposite. And what are you supposed to do if you have a relationship like that, one that frequently fills you with discouragement or pain? Well, there’s one thing you should not do. You should not wait for the other person to make the first move.

God’s Word in Romans 12:16 gives you godly goal for all your relationships: “Live in harmony with one another.” And the instructions as to how you should carry that out all have one thing in common. They all focus your attention on your own heart and actions—not the other person’s. “Do not be proud.” “Be willing to associate with people of low position.” “Do not be conceited.” In other words, use your time and energy to love and to serve the other person. Or, to say it another way, do what Jesus did.

When God’s relationship with us became broken with sin, the Son of God didn’t sit in heaven waiting for us to love him. He came as a baby in Bethlehem. Jesus lowered himself into the humblest of situations, associating himself at birth with the lowliest of families, associating himself throughout his ministry with the most recognizable sinners, and eventually taking the lowest position of all on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Why? Because he desired a harmonious relationship with us. And he knew that harmony could only be accomplished by humility.

Content Thankful

True Contentment

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I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12-13)

Our voices of thankfulness are closely connected to the contentment in our hearts. If we are content with our situation in life, then it’s easy to give thanks. When we are content with our job, we are thankful for it. When we are content with the way other people treat us, we give thanks for our favorable relationships. If we have good health, we may often pray to God and thank him for this blessing. When our heart’s desires are fulfilled, thankfulness is easier to express.

However, when there is discontent, then thankfulness is harder to put into words. How can I be thankful when my job is a hassle, or I can’t seem to earn enough, or other people treat me badly? How can I be thankful for that accident I had, or the surgery I need to have, or many other circumstances which disturb me or adversely affect me?

There is a way to be truly content no matter what’s going on. The apostle Paul declared, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” The source of his contentment did not come from within himself or depend on life’s situations. The apostle found contentment in the fact that he was forgiven by God because of Jesus Christ who died on the cross to give him eternal life. Paul’s contentment was based on his confidence in the eternal, loving-kindness of God.

True contentment is not attained by the quantity of things or the quality of life. True contentment is the result of the glorious status that we have with God through Jesus. Our outlook on life changes significantly when we learn to say with Paul, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Cherishing our Savior’s loving will for our lives and trusting in his almighty power, we have the satisfaction that he will always sustain us. In all situations—in plenty or want, in sadness or joy, in success or failure, in hardship or blessing—God does not fail to be our refuge and strength.

How do I find God?

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How do you find Atlanta?  You could go to a public library and ask for a map.  You could surf the internet for road directions.  You could ask a family member for help.  Or you could use Global Positioning System’s navigational technology.  This technology is now standard equipment in many new cars or on-sale at most electronic stores.  Using  satellites positioned many miles above the earth that transmit signals to earth-based GPS units to determine location and direction, GPS helps us get from point A to point B.

A GPS can give you step-by-step directions to Los Angeles.  But a GPS can’t help you with life’s most basic question: “How do I find God?”  Many people ask this question during a personal crisis that causes us to look for explanation, comfort, or relief.  Like looking for road directions, you could go to your public library and ask for books on religion – but there are so many religions that claim to be true even though logically not all of them can be.  You could Google for God – but when you do, you will come up with 356,000,000 pages — most of which raise more questions than they answer.  Or you could ask a family member for advice about how to seek God – but you probably did that already and feel more confused.  Or you can use technology already trusted by millions of people for thousands of years.  This technology is not available as standard equipment or on sale from any electronic stores.  Yes, it is a different type of GPS known as God Positioning System.  This spiritual GPS is simply reading a book known as the Holy Bible.  Year after year, more people buy the Bible, read the Bible, trust the Bible, and are inspired by the Bible more than any document on earth.  That’s because God himself gave us this book to seek him.  It’s a road-map … a road-map to heaven.  The Bible is more accurate and trustworthy than any Global Positioning System.

This spiritual GPS informs us that every person is wired to search for God, but God isn’t the one lost.  Spiritually, we are. Because of our personal sins we are lost eternally.  Hopeless and helpless, we need accurate directions to help us find a fulfilling life now and an eternity in heaven.  Simply opening the Bible activates this special spiritual kind of GPS as we start to read the words and apply them to our personal lives.  As we read these words of fact and reality, we soon find that the Bible’s central person is Jesus Christ, God’s own Son and our human brother who tells us all that we need to know about God.  Jesus tells us simply to believe that he lived a perfect life in our place, died the death we deserved on a cross, and rose physically from the grave to guarantee every believer an eternal life in heaven.  We find God as we believe in Jesus as the Savior.  As we review the pages of the Holy Bible, God also assures us that he will give us his unlimited Holy Spirit to help us believe what our limited human minds couldn’t possibly understand–that God loves us and also has a plan for our lives right now.

But this Spiritual GPS, the Bible, also directs us to a local Bible-believing, Jesus-centered church.  Talk with a pastor, get involved in a regular worship service and Bible study, apply the words of the Bible to your life.  Taste and see that the LORD is good.  Earth-based GPS has it’s limitations:  it needs a power source and doesn’t work if it’s antenna is blocked.  But God’s GPS, the Bible, works anytime, anywhere.  So use it.  Believe it.