Wednesday, July 4, 2007


july 4th is a difficult day for me. It's a weird and quirky thing. I guess I just realized one day that I would have been a tory [english loyalist] and probably not a rebel [the patriots of the revolution], and that just doesn't sound very patriotic. But it is the strength of submission.


Submission is such a lost word. For many it means being a wimp, or giving-up, or being someone who gets walked on.

For me...it is very different.


For me it means sub-mission. I choose to substitute my mission [my agenda, perspectives, passions, idealism, whims, etc.] for the mission of those in authority above me.


for me...this is TRUE liberty!


I no longer have to always be right.

I no longer have to fight for myself.

I no longer have to be enslaved to my wounds, ego, or even idealism.


I can rest in the fact that God has put people in my life to be submissive to, even if they are far from perfect.


Thus I have learned to:


Give my opinion, advice, and perspective without manipulation, and simply give my gift to my leaders and trust the holy spirit with it.


I can focus on bringing out the best in those above me without worrying about changing, fixing, or tweaking them.


These are positions of strength, love, faith, and confidence. Thus through the years I have been able to follow boards, elders, and pastors with a huge amount of joy, liberty, humility, and courage. As such I have also been able to make them strong, feel respected and protected, and bring out the best in them. Every leader I have nagged hasn't moved much...but the ones I served have always stepped up to the next level of leadership [even if I still disagreed with them about particulars, thier character and Christ-likeness increased]


Humility is a wonderful thing, it really is. It's not that I think I am humble, but when I do get it right it just feels fantastic and I can feel God's presence filling me with peace and joy.


Final note: sometime I'll tell you my "breakthrough" story about all this, but for now let's just say that being centered and focused on Jesus and others is BY FAR the best mental, spiritual and emotional outlook in the world. Watching Jesus say to his father...not my will...but your be done...is to me the strongest thing any man has ever dared to do. I highly recommend it.

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