Conquer Yourself

Conquer Yourself: ”

Grace and Peace be unto you, from God our Father and from the LORD Jesus Christ. Beloved we have come through on the victorious side of a great 21-day fast. Now, one of the things that are natural after such a victory is to ponder ‘Now What’. What now, where do I go, what do I conquer. I would like to offer a thought for you consideration. Jesus expects us to make a point of scrutinizing ourselves so that we do not fool ourselves into complacency.

NRSV
Matt. 23:27 ¶ ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth.

Jesus undoubtedly is engaged in polemic discourse with the spiritual leaders of that day, which is not new, but this text jumps out at me. His admonishment is not that they ought to lay down their authority, but in their accomplishments make a point of being committed to working on your character. Hypocrites are not Hypocrites by accident. A good word for hypocrites would in this sense be the word Actors. Actors play a role. If an actor actually believed that the role he is playing is real then that would be delusional behavior. Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, you play your roles well, and the part you play are so well executed that when we see you, we do not see the real you, we see the role you play. This is problematic. Jesus is saying instead of developing your role like an actor, God wants you to develop yourselves. You character, your inward self. What kind of person are you. Instead of polishing the faced call your outer self, the inside of who you are is filthy. Jesus wants us to be beautiful inside and out. Take this recent victory as inspiration. You conquered 21-days of fasting, your next conquest is yourself.

Psa. 139:14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

I want to reflect the beauty of holiness not just on the outside, but on the inside.

Yours Because I am His,
Leo Colon
http://www.ihpfwc.org
leocolon.wordpress.com”

(Via .)