Weekend Writings: People

People are quite difficult. :)

Truth is, I am rather tired of the way people, in general, act. Don’t get me wrong, I love people and I am very social, but I am tired of the constant struggle to please people instead of God–the constant battle to be the best, the one-upping and bragging, the vanity, the fickle friendship, the gossip, the self-doubt, the self-degradation to get attention, and the self-centeredness. I am tired of sin. Re-reading this, I suppose I’m being rather illogical. Isn’t being tired of other people’s sin a kind of self-righteousness? After all, the world is full of sin, mine included. I suppose I am being self-righteous.

Because I’m wrong, too. When I am self-righteous I overlook that I am a sinner. That I (who condemn others for the same things I do) try to please people instead of God. I try to be the best. I one-up and brag. I am vain. I try not to be fickle, but I can fail. I gossip. I doubt myself, my looks, my abilities, God-given things. I think lowly of myself, the person created by God for God. I am self-centered. So it turns out that I can’t be righteous on my own. I do the same things I’m tired of in other people.

To please people overlooks the very truth of my existence. I am not the best. I have nothing to brag about except the Cross. God gave me my looks and to judge them with vanity is to doubt Him. To sin against another is to sin against God. Gossip spreads lies. To doubt this body and these abilities that God has given me is to doubt His goodness and His wisdom in giving them to me. To think lowly of myself and of others is to degrade what God has made. To be selfish is to focus more on myself than on God. To be self-righteous elevates me above others: to think more highly of myself than I ought.

At the same time, I am supposed to have a positive impact on things. God has put me here with the people who are difficult on this earth for a reason: to show them Him. If my purpose is to please God, I have a call to be different than the World. I have a call to be humble. I have a call to boast only in the Cross. I have a call to look upon Christ, not myself. I have a call to be consistent and faithful. I have a call to spread the Gospel, not gossip. I have a call to be grateful and a good steward of what God has given me. I have a call to praise God for what He has done in me and in others. I have a call to be selfless and generous. I have a call to find my righteousness in Christ.

God, help me to follow you in everything. You are glorified, You are always humble, You are always patient, You are always faithful. You are always kind, You are always loving. You are always good. You are always selfless and generous. You are the righteous One. Thank you for what you are, even when we fail.

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