The most important thing about a man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. A. W. Tozer
Last week at NavNight, the speakers challenged us with 4 questions in order to give each of us a better understanding of our own faith. I decided that this would be a really interesting exercise to try here and could also give my friends a look into my faith. So here goes...
1. What attribute of God is most real to you?
Last week at NavNight, the speakers challenged us with 4 questions in order to give each of us a better understanding of our own faith. I decided that this would be a really interesting exercise to try here and could also give my friends a look into my faith. So here goes...
1. What attribute of God is most real to you?
It's really tempting for me to say something like His unconditional love or His faithfulness to his promises. Even though those attributes are probably better, I think that the one that is most heartfelt for me is God's wisdom.
"By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;"
Proverbs 3:19
One of the reasons I chose wisdom is because I feel like I've experienced it for a longer time than any of the others. Even as a child, I was fascinated by the wonder of God's creation, and I took every opportunity to learn more about it and became quickly concerned with its accurate explanation and understanding. Even now I see the understanding of God's creation a holy task, because in it we see the His wisdom.
Just as God's was wise in the way He planned the universe (if you can say that a being not limited by time plans), He is wise in planning my life. Even without mentioning Jeremiah 29:11, (which when read in context only applies to Israel) we have an even greater promise that everything will work for our good.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
Just imagine the wisdom it takes to make everything work for our good. My wisdom isn't even sufficient to see how things are working for my good let alone making them work for my good. Even worse, half the time, my own desires are not for my own good.
If I were asked what quality I pray for most, it would also be wisdom. I see so many times where my understanding is inadequate, or even more telling, when I look back at my actions and see my foolishness in them. Actions are a much bigger part of wisdom than we often think. Jesus even said, "But wisdom is proved right by her actions." Matthew 11:19 I want God to impart to me His wisdom, and the actions to back it up.
2. What attribute of God is least real to you?
During NavNight I answered this question with passion, but I'd like to change my terminology to zeal. I am changing it because in the Bible, passion is always associated with sinful desires; zeal is the quality that is associated with God.
"I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name." Ezekiel 39:25
Zeal, which I will define as energetic and unrelenting enthusiasm for God's name, is the one quality that I struggle with the most. It is a manifestation of the joy that is found in God. Because I approached my faith so rationally and methodically towards the beginning, I fail so often in the realm of enthusiasm. This is sad because it is even a commandment in the Bible.
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the LORD." Romans 12:11
Although this is the quality that I struggle with the most, it is also the one that I have seen the most growth in recent years. Much of this is because of a few key relationships that I formed in high school with people who's zeal was contagious. Enthusiasm is almost by definition contagious and one of the main ways that I try to compensate is by spending my time around people who have it. That is one of the reasons that I am so thankful for the great friends that I have around me, elevating my spiritual fervor. Of course, I owe most/all of my growth in this area to God. Zeal is very difficult to fake and every bit of it that I have can only come from Him giving it to me.
Now I want to talk a bit about how these two qualities are supposed to interact. First, one caveat from Proverbs.
"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." Proverbs 19:2
This means that our zeal should be based on wisdom. In other words it does no good to have zeal if it isn't based on knowledge. But also notice that this verse treats zeal as the end and knowledge as the means, which means that zeal is one of the purposes of knowledge and not the other way around. It is just as bad (if not worse) to posses the knowledge and not use it for its purpose. We must have zeal and wisdom; spirit and truth.
"God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and truth." John 4:24
2. What attribute of God is least real to you?
During NavNight I answered this question with passion, but I'd like to change my terminology to zeal. I am changing it because in the Bible, passion is always associated with sinful desires; zeal is the quality that is associated with God.
"I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name." Ezekiel 39:25
Zeal, which I will define as energetic and unrelenting enthusiasm for God's name, is the one quality that I struggle with the most. It is a manifestation of the joy that is found in God. Because I approached my faith so rationally and methodically towards the beginning, I fail so often in the realm of enthusiasm. This is sad because it is even a commandment in the Bible.
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the LORD." Romans 12:11
Although this is the quality that I struggle with the most, it is also the one that I have seen the most growth in recent years. Much of this is because of a few key relationships that I formed in high school with people who's zeal was contagious. Enthusiasm is almost by definition contagious and one of the main ways that I try to compensate is by spending my time around people who have it. That is one of the reasons that I am so thankful for the great friends that I have around me, elevating my spiritual fervor. Of course, I owe most/all of my growth in this area to God. Zeal is very difficult to fake and every bit of it that I have can only come from Him giving it to me.
Now I want to talk a bit about how these two qualities are supposed to interact. First, one caveat from Proverbs.
"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." Proverbs 19:2
This means that our zeal should be based on wisdom. In other words it does no good to have zeal if it isn't based on knowledge. But also notice that this verse treats zeal as the end and knowledge as the means, which means that zeal is one of the purposes of knowledge and not the other way around. It is just as bad (if not worse) to posses the knowledge and not use it for its purpose. We must have zeal and wisdom; spirit and truth.
"God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and truth." John 4:24
