Something of Calvary Love

There are those who believe that being more aggressive/assertive will benefit them in life.  They feel that passivity is useless for attaining what you want and you never get the good that you deserve unless you are calloused to the cares of others to get it.

It would appear that this is how businesses find success in a crooked system and how the people at the "top" get their BMWs without a care in the world.  I get it -- why be gentle and considerate when it probably won't benefit you?  Why should you worry about pleasing others when it often brings you no reward, or maybe even causes you to absorb some pain?

But then I remember the psalmist speaks of those who have carved their way comfortably to the "top" and says that they are like a dream that the Lord forgets (see Psalm 73).  

My soul is saturated with adoration for Jesus who never asserted himself for comfort or personal gain despite his unlimited power.  Something stirs excitedly inside my mind and heart and tells me this is the most captivating way to live.  Andrew Murray wrote, "I am sure that there are many Christians who will confess that their experience has been very much like my own - that we had long known the Lord without realizing that meekness and lowliness of heart should be the distinguishing feature of the disciple, as they were of the Master."

It is okay to be overlooked.  It is okay to be put in last place.  Would it be wrong to assume we should even be most content in such a position?  Maybe always getting our way should be a bit unsettling or uncomfortable!  I read somewhere, "If I cannot in honest happiness take the second place (or the twentieth)...then I know nothing of Calvary love."

Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth;" and Paul, remembering Christ's humility says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3-4).

My deepest desire is not only that our nature would conform to the selfless nature of God, but that by doing so we might brush up against the sense of peace that comes with giving up our privileged position.  Perhaps we will find that we can breathe more easily.  A.W. Tozer says, "The meek man will attain a place of soul rest.  As he walks on in meekness he will be happy to let God defend him.  The old struggle to defend himself is over.  He has found the peace which meekness brings."

-Kelly

Comments

[Debbie]

Good thoughts Kelly.