In life we get to intersections, crossroads, traffic circles, and forks in the road.
GPS navigation with all its capacity can only prompt and direct based on parameters and information that has been fed into the program.
When one individual simply observes another individual, many times the person looking on determines what appears to be straightforward and easily interpreted, concerning the actions of the one being observed. Foundationally, it is just that simple.
In Romans 12:9 Paul instructs “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”
Dissimulation – (noun) Concealment of one’s thoughts, feelings, or character; pretence
Here we are instructed to use honest evaluation; open-minded thoughts, using the principle of the balance scale. Abhor that which is evil (left side) – cleave to that which is good (right side).
In regulations regarding weaponry, many jurisdictions allow weapons to be carried openly by their citizens, but come down hard on concealment. When a person carries a concealed weapon, they have an unfair advantage over their opponent.
In relationships as well as in life decision-making processes, we like to keep a hidden agenda. Sometimes at the fork of our own road we keep this type of hidden card. We try not to admit, even to ourselves, what the real reason is for unwillingness. Inferior feelings, old hurts, foundational trust, traditions, partial truths are some examples. We see this in early childhood development; for instance, a child’s attachment to a teddy bear or a favourite blanket. As grown children we, too, sometimes hang onto our “teddy bears”.
For ourselves we are convinced that these things hold intrinsic value. However, on the open market they are really only worth a fraction of what our mind dictates. For an alcoholic, the very idea of never partaking of another alcoholic drink is absolutely terrifying. For a smoker to visualize not being able to have a cigarette at a stressful time is unthinkable.
Now, before we have a discussion about how ridiculous this is, admit to yourselves where your thinking is comparable to it. Think of your credit card balance. Many people would panic if their credit cards couldn’t be paid at due date. Good habit. Others are inclined to misrepresent truth, both to themselves and to others, regarding credit card due dates; they invent every imaginable thought. While the credit card companies warn about the folly of not paying off the balance due, they themselves have crafted the trap to enslave those who inevitably will pay the interest.
When we deal with the souls of men, both our own and others, let’s consider the verse found in Matthew chapter 7.
Matthew 7:4 – “Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?”
The 7th chapter of Matthew can easily be distorted to imply that progress of any kind is impossible. I too, in this writing, can be understood to be tolerant of evil or wrong. That is not my intent. My intention is to encourage one and all to listen carefully to the still small voice, and to bring our problems to the Cross of Jesus. To leave our agendas with him.
Understand that self-righteousness is neither leaning toward a conservative way, nor to a liberal way. It is a righteousness catering to one’s self, evading truth. Many people make a wrong choice when they reach a fork or an intersection on their life’s road, because someone for whom they now have no respect did them wrong. Often this someone who caused the harm was an authority in the harmed one’s life, or at least had dominance over the wronged one. My father often quoted, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
May we encourage one another to choose rightly. May we be candid with ourselves so that we see ourselves in the Mirror of truth.
“In honour preferring one another”. Romans 12:10b.
