Some people have no desire to be king, but they desperately want to be a king-maker. King-making often involves king-breaking, in order to create a vacancy. This desire can cause conservatives, moderates, and liberals alike to engage in stupid, petty behavior.
We are called to be imitators of Jesus; we are not called to stand in His place.
We were made in the image of God, and we are designed to reflect God’s character. If we have been redeemed, we have God’s Spirit within us, using our hands, our feet, and our mouths to accomplish His will. The Church is the body of Christ, the visible manifestation on the earth of the redeeming work of Christ. However, if we are “the only Jesus they’ll ever know,” then something is terribly wrong.
THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.
Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron’s fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away. Continue reading
What people call “self esteem” is really a misnomer. What people call self esteem is really “self perception of esteem from others.”
Someone with “low self esteem” suffers from the perception that the world around them does not value them as much as they think they should be valued. Conversely, someone with “high self esteem” perceives that the world thinks they are really great (and they’re inclined to agree).
Their perception may or may not be accurate. Sometimes the world really does harbor disdain for others, but sometimes people underestimate the world’s perception of them. Similarly, the world often elevates some people as heroes, but it’s also common for someone to overestimate how others perceive them.
Both those with “low self esteem” and “high self esteem” actually think somewhat highly of themselves. The main difference lies in whether they think the world values them sufficiently.
To read more about the problem of high self-worth, read Ronnie Martin’s article at The Gospel Coalition: The Beauty of Low Self-Esteem.
Benevolent and easy-going Father:
We have occasionally been guilty of errors of judgment.
We have lived under the deprivations of heredity and the disadvantages of environment.
We have sometimes failed to act in accordance with common sense.
We have done the best we could in the circumstances,
And have been careful not to ignore the common standards of decency;
And we are glad to think that we are fairly normal.
Do thou, O Lord, deal lightly with our infrequent lapses.
Be thy own sweet Self with those who admit they are not perfect;
According to the unlimited tolerances which we have a right to expect from thee.
And grant us as an indulgent Parent
That we may hereafter continue to live a harmless and happy life
And keep our self-respect.
from He Sent Leanness, by David Head, referenced in Mark (The NIV Application Commentary), by David Garland.
The original prayer of general confession from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty and most merciful Father,
We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep,
We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts,
We have offended against thy holy laws,
We have left undone those things which we ought to have done,
And we have done those things which we ought not to have done,
And there is no health in us:
But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us miserable offenders;
Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults, restore thou them that are penitent,
According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord:
And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,
That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life,
To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
