(A)Whatever...
Illustration
(A)
"Whatever is born of God overcomes the world." The kind of life Christ asks us to lead as Christians, loving one another, keeping his commandments, etc., is simply not achievable on purely human grounds. This is the good news, however, the God who asks so much from us also provides us the ability to do it. If we are born of God we have the faith and the power to overcome the world. It will not seem hard to us to keep God's commandments, because it will now be part of our very nature to do so. As God's children we are equipped to handle anything. The only things that can keep us from prevailing over the world are our own doubts and lack of faith.
Sometimes the hardest overcoming of the world we have to do is within ourselves -- overcoming our selfishness with compassion. But here too, we must always remember, if we are born of God, we do have the power to control our own lives if we can just overcome our fear of claiming it. I believe the main reason we are afraid to claim it is that then we would have to admit responsibility for our own lives. We can no longer plead that we are victims of circumstances. God has given us the victory, but we must claim it.
-- Shearburn
"Whatever is born of God overcomes the world." The kind of life Christ asks us to lead as Christians, loving one another, keeping his commandments, etc., is simply not achievable on purely human grounds. This is the good news, however, the God who asks so much from us also provides us the ability to do it. If we are born of God we have the faith and the power to overcome the world. It will not seem hard to us to keep God's commandments, because it will now be part of our very nature to do so. As God's children we are equipped to handle anything. The only things that can keep us from prevailing over the world are our own doubts and lack of faith.
Sometimes the hardest overcoming of the world we have to do is within ourselves -- overcoming our selfishness with compassion. But here too, we must always remember, if we are born of God, we do have the power to control our own lives if we can just overcome our fear of claiming it. I believe the main reason we are afraid to claim it is that then we would have to admit responsibility for our own lives. We can no longer plead that we are victims of circumstances. God has given us the victory, but we must claim it.
-- Shearburn
