Entry 12
What we value has
the potential to both bring us the most happiness, and on the contrary the most
sadness. If a man values the praise of another man, he will undoubtedly find
sadness in another man’s scorn, while utmost joy in another man’s affirmation. When we put our treasure in Christ, and rely
on him for the source of our peace we are brought to sorrow in a man’s
rejection of Christ, and delight in his acceptance. A man should find it his
duty to help steward others to Christ through both his actions and his speech -
lest how selfish it would be to find a great treasure in a field and share it
with no one but oneself? If we truly place our entire joy in Christ, Christ
should play a role in all we do. We should strive to glorify God in our
conversations, our meals, our work, and most importantly in our relationships.
As I near the end
of Augustine’s Confessions I find it
as my utmost duty to find my greatest joy in Christ. To quote Les Miserables, “To love another person
is to see the face of God.” This is what is all comes down to. My pursuit in
this life is to love the people I come into contact with each day while giving
time and energy to my God-honoring vocation of becoming a missionary doctor. To
lose sight of this is to lose sight of Christ. Whatever it is we feel called to
do in life let us conduct in in such a way that love is at the forefront of our
motives. When we put love first we become more equipped to better handle the
pressures and expectations the world projects on us. When we reach out to
others, we reach out to God - it no longer becomes about us, it becomes about
Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment