Wednesday, May 14, 2008

True Humility

God loves us, not because of who WE are, but because of who HE is. ---Marie Byars

2 comments:

Niharika B said...

i can make out that it's got a lot of depth by what it says.
but i would defnitely like you to tell me more about what it actually means.
will keep coming back to your blog!

C. Marie Byars said...

Thanks for visiting & returning! and I will be back over to yours shortly! Here's more insight on this comment: the Chrisitan faith says "God is Love." It goes on to define love ("agape" in Greek) as pure, unselfish, undeserved attitude; a perfect unselfishness in every thought, word, and action. It means even being this perfect in our subconscious being---where we humans, quite honestly, are motivated by selfish ambitions even while we tell ourselves how "good" we are. God expects that perfection from each of us. Since the first humans rebelled and selfishly turned away from God, obviously no one can do this---even people who seem very, very moral do not have this perfection. Here's a little story ("analogy") that may help you understand more why we need God's mercy & forgiveness---why it's all about HIS goodness: Somtimes people ask me, "Why do you consider Christianity so special or unique? After all, most of the world's great religions have fine moral codes." This is true, but the primary thing about Christianity is not the fine moral code. Think on this:
When you were very young and tracked dirt in on the nice, clean kitchen floor, how did your mom react? Did she say, "That's okay, honey, I love you so much that I'll ignore the dirt. We'll all just get along fine ignoring it." (???) Of course not!" [No one's ever said "Yes" to this---what a dump you'd live in if your mom were like that.] Your mom knew you couldn't clean up the mess on your own. So, what did your mom do? She rolled up her sleeves and cleaned up your mess on her own.* "[Yahweh (God's actual Hebrew name in the Bible)] saw that there was no one. . . to intercede; so His own arm worked salvation for Him." (Isaiah 60:16)

That's how it is with God and our inability to love perfectly. God can stand it even less to live with the dirt of unlovingness than your mom could with that dirty floor. [Bible Old Testament: 'unclean' was how they often expressed sinfulness or unlovingness.] God is so perfect He can't even stand one speck of dirt in His presence---not the tiniest thing. And we're not capable of cleaning our mess up, either. So, God 'rolled up His sleeves', became one of us (Jesus Christ) and cleaned up that mess (dying on the cross to pay back Himself for the cost of our sins).

Hope this helps! Blessings to you!