Carousel of Progress
Have you experienced Disney's "Carousel of Progress"? Remember the song? "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day...". It is a 360 degree representation of how society is progressing through the decades. I wonder, if someone looked at my spiritual life in the same manner, would they see that same sort of marching forward progress? Here are "14 Attributes of a Healthy Christian" that I have come up with from Scripture to help me think about this. Here is the question... "Have I progressed in each of these areas in the last 6 months, 1 year, 5 years?" "Am I more 'put attribute here', than I was 6 months, 1 year, 5 years ago?"
- Be Scripturally Saturated – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
- Be Submissive to the Will of God – Hebrews 12:9
- Be Satisfied in Him - Psalm 63
- Be Stewards of God’s Resources - Matthew 25
- Be Soldiers, Standing Firm, (Armor of God) – Ephesians 6
- Be Spiritually Growing – 2 peter 3:18
- Be Strangers, Salt in this World Matthew 5:13, 1 Peter 2:11
- Be Serving using your Spiritual Gift (the body, the world) – Rom 12, I Cor 12, Eph 4
- Be Socially Compassionate – Matthew 25:40
- Be Strong in Faith – Hebrews 11
- Be Spirit led – Romans 8, Galatians 5
- Be Sharing One Another’s Burdens in Community - Galatians 6:2
- Be Sowing, Shiners – Ephesians 4/5, Matthew 5:14
- Be Speaking with God (Pray). Philippians 4:6
Rob
Comments
I fully believe in defending our faith and any institutions that God has ordained, such as Marriage. I never want to be seen as "wishy-washy" in my theology. I only wish that we were a little more consistent in how we defended the faith. I think our world would be a better place if we put as much emphasis on eradicating spousal abuse, marital infidelity, and rape as we put on keeping homosexual marriage illegal. The first three issues being universally agreed upon as clear violations of God's plan for marriage and sexuality, and the last issue being one which many deeply committed believers who exhibit all 14 of the attributes on your list still struggle with the moral implications of.
I like the list.
Sorry so confusing.
well, here is the idea. Progression. So often we can find ourselves consistent and stable, but not progressing in the maturity of our relationship with God. I am trying to emphasize the importance in growing in everyone of these area. Let's not be satisfied with our apparent maturity today, but the reality is that we have not reached the pinnacle of maturity.
Strong in Faith. Nothing earth shattering here. No hidden meanings. Am I more able to trust (have faith in) Christ today than I was yesterday? Let's say I am struggling with the reality of suffering in our world. Hopefully today I have more faith in the soveriegnty of God and his plan than I had 1,3,5 years ago. Is my faith growing, becoming stronger? Is my doubt increasing or decreasing?
Rob