Any decent, self-respecting two-year-old will tell you
the nagging question that occupies the majority of their Whole. Entire. Life.
”Why is the sky blue, Mom?”
“Because God made it that way…”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
While I
try to NOT act like I’m two, I’ve been asking the same question. “Why?” Why do
I do what I do? Why do I not do what I’m supposed to do?
Pastor
Shane’s recent message on Romans 12, “The Attitudes that Energize our Faith”
blew my mind. I may have teethed on pews, but I felt like I had never heard
those truths before. Yes, I know what I’m supposed to do – I’m supposed to love
the Lord and my family and my church. But how? Why?
So
often, I wash dishes and fold laundry because I know what I’m supposed to do. I
hate going to the grocery store and put it off until the point where I am
eating stale pretzels and chocolate chips to survive. I scrub pink slime from
shower floors because it embarrasses me as a human being – and for that reason
only. I’m supposed to be Mrs. Titus 2: working at home, loving my husband and
children (by bleaching pink slime to death), and throwing in epic amounts
of Proverbs 31 industry and charity on the side. But how can I do all that
when I don’t even want to get off of the couch?
By sacrifice – as Romans 12:1-2 instructs me, calling
me to daily present my life as a living sacrifice. As our pastor put it, I need
to be getting up each day and having the urgent reminder that my life belongs to God. That is
it. End of story. As Galatians 5:20 reminds me, “I have been crucified with
Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; And the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave His son up for me.” I only have the freedom to do God's will and serve Him.
By humility – not wishing that I had a maid to do all
my work for me, but having a realistic understanding of what I deserve. My Lord
was born in a barn and did not have a place to lay his head or somewhere to
call home. He washed feet and was a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Why
do I think I deserve to be waited on hand and foot? Is the servant greater than
her Master? The truth is that there is no task “beneath me.” I should instead
be motivated because I’m grateful that my Lord loved me when I was unlovely,
despicable, and hateful toward Him.
By faith – doing the will of God outside of my
comfort zone. I cannot believe the lie that tempts me to think that serving God
should be easy and fit within my personality/schedule/favorite color palette. If
I can rely on myself in my “service” to God, it ceases to be service and
becomes self-worship. Another temptation for me is to put myself out there
grudgingly, but Romans 12 tells us to exercise our gifts with attributes like “Diligence,”
“Cheerfulness,” and “Liberality.”
By love – Love that comes from God and is not
generated by human emotion. It does not experience ebbs and rises, but stands,
rooted firmly in truth. I struggle here, so much and so often. The Romans 12
love, the energizing attitude, shows me how I ought to be: “ Let love be without
hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted
to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in
honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted
to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing
hospitality.” Rom. 12:9-13. As I pursue godliness, I will be able to do this - knowing that I love because God first loved me.
So this is how it’s done,
folks. Here is why I need to do
dishes and match socks and wrestle with new recipes. What about you? Where do
you see your need for these attitudes in your life?
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