From someone smarter than me (the first part anyway)
All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.
Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch my proper skin;
I talk of love—a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek—
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.
- C.S. Lewis
Some things are just harder to read than others, and I am not referring to Lewis’, command of the English language. It is always easier to read something that affirms our actions and confirms our beliefs, than to read an article that calls us out on our deficiencies. Unfortunately this truth applies to how we read the bible as well. We windup reading and telling the same stories over and over, and ignoring the ones that make us question. Well, ignoring them or attributing the negatives to someone else, “So-and-so should read this verse about judging and take it to heart.” Lewis is talking about being selfish; some of us may have written this poem about slander, false humility or loving our enemy. The first action that must be taken to being a better Christian is acknowledging and accepting your own shortcomings.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.
Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch my proper skin;
I talk of love—a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek—
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.
- C.S. Lewis
Some things are just harder to read than others, and I am not referring to Lewis’, command of the English language. It is always easier to read something that affirms our actions and confirms our beliefs, than to read an article that calls us out on our deficiencies. Unfortunately this truth applies to how we read the bible as well. We windup reading and telling the same stories over and over, and ignoring the ones that make us question. Well, ignoring them or attributing the negatives to someone else, “So-and-so should read this verse about judging and take it to heart.” Lewis is talking about being selfish; some of us may have written this poem about slander, false humility or loving our enemy. The first action that must be taken to being a better Christian is acknowledging and accepting your own shortcomings.
Posted by
at
19:22:26
You are so joking, and all your articles I like them. Very good!