Mind Boggling
By Njeri Mucheru-Oyatta
Chapter 72
Today I discovered something very interesting that left me more enlightened than anything else I had thought of previously.
I came to a realization that whereas intellectual growth teaches us new things about ourselves and our world, there is nothing new in spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is about learning the obvious about your life. It is about learning simple truths which surprise you by how obvious they are and make you wonder why you could not have seen them before you took the time to think about them.
I had been asking myself for a few days why it is that we break God’s commandments with such impunity that they have become almost meaningless. The answer I got to this seemingly complicated question was a very simple one. We break God’s commandments with impunity because we do not think about the devil. In all honesty, I do not remember a time when a thought of the devil has actually registered in my mind and been assessed for longer than a few seconds. I realized that I think about God several million more times than I think about the devil. In fact, it seems that I am afraid to take time to think about the devil. Almost as if I think that thinking about the devil will cause something evil to happen to me.
Does the devil deserve serious consideration in our lives? Could not thinking about the devil prevent me from finding my missing ‘something’? The answer to these questions is a big YES!
Why is it important to think about the devil? About Satan? Because he is the reason why you break God’s commandments and he plays a vital role in preventing you from following Jesus.
But how can one take time out to think about the devil? It does not seem to matter whether or not you believe in the devil. It is the belief in God that matters. The devil is such a despicable character, thinking about him makes me feel like I am polluting my mind. It took me a long time to find a way of convincing my mind to accommodate any thought of the devil for longer than a few seconds.
Questions were many in my mind. What do you call a person who believes in the devil or one who doesn’t? Is a person who believes in the devil called a Christian? Is one who does not believe in the devil called an atheist?
I could not run away from the fact that as a Christian, I have to accept the role of the devil in my life. Accepting the devil as part of my life was like accepting that I was infected by a life threatening illness like HIV and I did not want to think of telling anyone about the devil’s role in my life. People are always testifying about what Jesus has done in their lives and declaring how great and wonderful Jesus is. I have never some across a person who has testified about what the devil has done in their lives. We all assume that when we are breaking God’s commandments, we are acting on our own volition in the absence of God. We think that it is our choice to sin. Is it really our choice? Are we not inherently sinful? Is it not true that when we sin, we are choosing to follow the devil? I think so.
I think that in this life, we do not truly have free choice. We are not free to choose for ourselves. Our choices are influenced either by the devil or by God. Never by ourselves.
To enable me to think about the devil and ensure that I recognize his presence in my life at all times in an effort to avoid his influences and act in accordance with God’s commandments, I went back to the concept of spiritual identities. In considering the question of the devil, I came to a fuller understanding of the importance of spiritual identities. If Jesus is passion, what is the devil’s spiritual identity? It’s a simple truth, an obvious one that surprised me and made me wonder why I did not recognize the devil before in my life. The devil is SELFISHNESS.
Money is definitely not the root to all evil. Whoever said that was thinking shallow. Money is a thing, it cannot cause us to do anything. It goes without saying that indeed, the devil is the root to all evil. Selfishness is the root to all evil. What was making me refuse to give way in traffic or in the lifts? What makes me refuse to give when an opportunity presents itself? What was making me refuse to forgive or to believe in God? It was selfishness. How? Selfishness was making me love myself more than others.
Passion makes you act in the best interests of others while Selfishness makes you act only in your own best interests.
The source of jealousy, envy, hate, hardheartedness, pride, fear, all the demons that prevent us from finding our trees of life and pursuing our passions is selfishness. I have decided to turn away from selfishness as much as I possibly can. I have come to a realization of how powerful the devil really is. Selfishness is a formidable force to reckon with. If you take the time to think deeply about the devil, you will realize (like I have) that everything unpleasant in your life has been brought about by selfishness i.e. acting only in your own best interests.
You will also realize that resisting selfishness and choosing to follow your passion is what spiritual warfare is all about.
A simple obvious truth.
By Njeri Mucheru-Oyatta
Chapter 72
Today I discovered something very interesting that left me more enlightened than anything else I had thought of previously.
I came to a realization that whereas intellectual growth teaches us new things about ourselves and our world, there is nothing new in spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is about learning the obvious about your life. It is about learning simple truths which surprise you by how obvious they are and make you wonder why you could not have seen them before you took the time to think about them.
I had been asking myself for a few days why it is that we break God’s commandments with such impunity that they have become almost meaningless. The answer I got to this seemingly complicated question was a very simple one. We break God’s commandments with impunity because we do not think about the devil. In all honesty, I do not remember a time when a thought of the devil has actually registered in my mind and been assessed for longer than a few seconds. I realized that I think about God several million more times than I think about the devil. In fact, it seems that I am afraid to take time to think about the devil. Almost as if I think that thinking about the devil will cause something evil to happen to me.
Does the devil deserve serious consideration in our lives? Could not thinking about the devil prevent me from finding my missing ‘something’? The answer to these questions is a big YES!
Why is it important to think about the devil? About Satan? Because he is the reason why you break God’s commandments and he plays a vital role in preventing you from following Jesus.
But how can one take time out to think about the devil? It does not seem to matter whether or not you believe in the devil. It is the belief in God that matters. The devil is such a despicable character, thinking about him makes me feel like I am polluting my mind. It took me a long time to find a way of convincing my mind to accommodate any thought of the devil for longer than a few seconds.
Questions were many in my mind. What do you call a person who believes in the devil or one who doesn’t? Is a person who believes in the devil called a Christian? Is one who does not believe in the devil called an atheist?
I could not run away from the fact that as a Christian, I have to accept the role of the devil in my life. Accepting the devil as part of my life was like accepting that I was infected by a life threatening illness like HIV and I did not want to think of telling anyone about the devil’s role in my life. People are always testifying about what Jesus has done in their lives and declaring how great and wonderful Jesus is. I have never some across a person who has testified about what the devil has done in their lives. We all assume that when we are breaking God’s commandments, we are acting on our own volition in the absence of God. We think that it is our choice to sin. Is it really our choice? Are we not inherently sinful? Is it not true that when we sin, we are choosing to follow the devil? I think so.
I think that in this life, we do not truly have free choice. We are not free to choose for ourselves. Our choices are influenced either by the devil or by God. Never by ourselves.
To enable me to think about the devil and ensure that I recognize his presence in my life at all times in an effort to avoid his influences and act in accordance with God’s commandments, I went back to the concept of spiritual identities. In considering the question of the devil, I came to a fuller understanding of the importance of spiritual identities. If Jesus is passion, what is the devil’s spiritual identity? It’s a simple truth, an obvious one that surprised me and made me wonder why I did not recognize the devil before in my life. The devil is SELFISHNESS.
Money is definitely not the root to all evil. Whoever said that was thinking shallow. Money is a thing, it cannot cause us to do anything. It goes without saying that indeed, the devil is the root to all evil. Selfishness is the root to all evil. What was making me refuse to give way in traffic or in the lifts? What makes me refuse to give when an opportunity presents itself? What was making me refuse to forgive or to believe in God? It was selfishness. How? Selfishness was making me love myself more than others.
Passion makes you act in the best interests of others while Selfishness makes you act only in your own best interests.
The source of jealousy, envy, hate, hardheartedness, pride, fear, all the demons that prevent us from finding our trees of life and pursuing our passions is selfishness. I have decided to turn away from selfishness as much as I possibly can. I have come to a realization of how powerful the devil really is. Selfishness is a formidable force to reckon with. If you take the time to think deeply about the devil, you will realize (like I have) that everything unpleasant in your life has been brought about by selfishness i.e. acting only in your own best interests.
You will also realize that resisting selfishness and choosing to follow your passion is what spiritual warfare is all about.
A simple obvious truth.
2 comments:
A simple truth in your life. A simple truth from others that might share the same view. Turn the tables who is the devil. I know God but who is the devil? Why would I want to give credit to negative thoughts. Why? Humans are genetically predisposed to run away from pain.
Careful where you take your brain. You might be going too far with this one.
Stranger in the light
So you dont want to know who the devil is?
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