I am listening to Ingrid Michaelson, which is usually my music of confusion. I love her, but I usually listen to her most when I'm confused about things. I think it's generally because her lyrics at time seem...well, like she's lost and searching. While I feel comforted that I don't have these moments of searching for the meaning of life, I feel as though I often question the meaning of my life. How am I living at the moment and is my life and my relationships honoring the Lord? I have a lot of decisions to make and I pray the Lord gives me wisdom and strength to make God-honoring ones. That's it...but I will leave you with some Ingrid for the night <3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Seoq-2kokuk
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Finally I can see you crystal clear...
It's so sad to see that the family unit has become so disgusting and unlike the created order. It makes me want to just give up on any hopes of having a normal family. I try so hard to make things right and yet, it does not seem to matter. I am just in this conundrum of when to say goodbye and give up. Anytime I try to make things work with my dad, I just feel like he does something stupid to mess it up and I am tired of it. I am tired of feeling frustrated and hurt and it seems to hurt less when we're not talking at all. It's so sad though because if I decide to not to forego the whole giving up on people, then, one day, as I get married, I will have no one to walk me down the isle. It's really quite tragic in that sense, but Oh well. What's a girl to do? It'd hard not having any men in my family that I would want to do that for me. At times like this, I just feel so discouraged.
Despite this, I am at peace. I know that this life is merely a mist and journey. I need to pray more, trust myself less and trust Him more...My Lord is a stronghold for His people and yet I often forget that. He is my Father and yet I forget to go to Him with my troubles at times like this. I read this devotion on prayer yesterday and was really convicted at my lack of prayer life.
Spurgeon writes:
"The fire must be kept burning on the alter continuously; it must not go out." Leviticus 6:13
"Keep the altar of private prayer burning. This is the very life of all piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here, therefore let this burn well. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer, of vital and experimental religion.
Despite this, I am at peace. I know that this life is merely a mist and journey. I need to pray more, trust myself less and trust Him more...My Lord is a stronghold for His people and yet I often forget that. He is my Father and yet I forget to go to Him with my troubles at times like this. I read this devotion on prayer yesterday and was really convicted at my lack of prayer life.
Spurgeon writes:
"The fire must be kept burning on the alter continuously; it must not go out." Leviticus 6:13
"Keep the altar of private prayer burning. This is the very life of all piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here, therefore let this burn well. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer, of vital and experimental religion.
Burn here the fat of your sacrifices. Let your closet seasons be, if possible, regular, frequent, and undisturbed. Effectual prayer availeth much. Have you nothing to pray for? Let us suggest the Church, the ministry, your own soul, your children, your relations, your neighbours, your country, and the cause of God and truth throughout the world. Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and of supplications. Let us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in the Church and in the world.
The text will also apply to the altar of the heart. This is a golden altar indeed. God loves to see the hearts of his people glowing towards himself. Let us give to God our hearts, all blazing with love, and seek his grace, that the fire may never be quenched; for it will not burn if the Lord does not keep it burning. Many foes will attempt to extinguish it; but if the unseen hand behind the wall pour thereon the sacred oil, it will blaze higher and higher. Let us use texts of Scripture as fuel for our heart's fire, they are live coals; let us attend sermons, but above all, let us be much alone with Jesus."
What a good reminder of the importance of prayer...
Friday, July 8, 2011
Contentment
I have been thinking a lot about contentment the past few days and so I read a few verses that have really challenged me in my contentment.
I am trying to be content in all of life's circumstances and yet it is so hard. I want to be able to be content because He will never leave me or forsake me, so why shouldn't I feel that way? The problem is my sinful nature, yet I am trying to learn to trust the Lord more and more each day. Life is an adventure and only a short time of trials when compared to the grand scheme of life, so I can easily be content in all circumstances when I see life in that light. May the LORD constantly remind me of this short mist of my life. May my life be to the praise of His glory.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Proverbs 31
I have always loved the passage of Proverbs 31:10-31. It something that I desire to be. Oddly enough though, I'm not sure that I ever read the whole passage of Proverbs 31 from the beginning to better understand it's context. To me, at the time, it had always seemed like a simple section of wisdom, separated from all the other sections of wisdom. So, I have decided to do an intense study of Proverbs 31 to gain more insight to this section of wisdom literature. I decided to write it on here because I figure, maybe if I do, I will actually accomplish what I say I am going to do! What a concept!?! <3 So, off to find some resources and plug in brain power. I will try to examine one verse (at the very least, a night). I'm tired of reading and never meditating completely on God's Word, so this is a challenge for myself to grow in my knowledge and love of my Lord and Savior.
Letters of love
I was searching for a commentary of mine when I came across a pile of old, unsent letters in a fragile, dusty drawer. These letters, some sealed and some not, were left unsent for several reasons. One, I simply forgot about, but the others I wrote to express my emotions but were never meant to be sent. I sat back and read them and reminisced on the emotion that I felt while writing the specific letter I would read. One after another revealed my deepest thoughts and desires on a sheet of paper...one in which would never be read by anyone but me.
Why did I even put so much effort and emotion into this if it were never meant to be read...but then again, why do I blog, when I don't promote myself to be read? I've discovered that I am a highly emotional person and while I hate that most about myself, I tend to keep my emotions in this very small box, until shortly, they are filled with so much emotion that it explodes. So, I write. I write and all the emotion that wells up in my chest and all the tears that fall upon my face are deeply expressed within my words. Words are a tricky thing though, mind you. They can expresses the deepest sincerity or the darkness and depravity of your heart. I've known my words, especially on paper, to have had a passionate impact and also to have had said things that, in the deepest sorrow, I regret after I expressed them.
These specific letters were to the man that I first loved. It was weird reading them again because all of the sorrow I had once felt and the anger I held inside at times, all came back, with the same knot in my throat and the same tears I was holding back. I was so in love. I look back at the words I wrote to this man and I feel jaded. I gave him so much of myself that I can never give back. Although not in a physical way, as an emotional girl, it felt the same. I felt as though I had freely given so much to him to only have my heart ripped from my chest and tossed amongst the other broken hearts of the world. I gave so much then that I feel like I have less to give now. I loved so easily then, that I feel like I don't love as easily now. Why does my heart do such a thing?
There is only one remedy to this broken heart of mine, it is the love letter that I have received not from a man who will only break my heart and fail me, but the love letter from a God who is all powerful, all knowing and all loving. Whose Hesed (or covenant faithful love) will never fail and will never change. "In this is love....NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, BUT THAT HE LOVED US, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins". It's funny because this looks a little bit like my tragic love story. I loved someone so much that I gave so much, yet they never loved me in return. A big difference is that when I was not loved in return, I began hating, loathing and desiring that at least he not find anyone else. I loved, thinking that I was going to be loved in return. Christ loved knowing that the world would hate hit, loath him and spit on him, yet He still chose to die for His sheep and loved them despite their enmity.
I cannot say the same for myself. I cannot say that I have loved in that way, probably ever. When someone raises a hand to me, I am sad, angered and feel like it was unjust. Yet this is not how I should react. I need to love those who love me and love even my enemies, which is much harder. This brings me back to loving those whom have hurt me. I don't want to love my dad. I don't want to love Nate again (though I will not to that same degree) I don't want to love Kati. I don't want to love those whom have hurt me so badly that my heart feels suffocated. But Christ did, and I have been offended far less than He whom I have offended. How much more should I love those whom have committed but minor crimes against me, when I have committed adultery/idolatry and many more sins against the one whom loved and saved me. I feel like Isaiah in Isaiah 6. "Woe is me for I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips...", yet if you remember the passage, Isaiah was cleansed by the burning coals as a picture of atonement. May we as Christians never forget this and be constantly reminded how much we have been saved from and because of that, how we should love others in the same manner by which we have been loved.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Doreen Woodbridge
I've been reading up on somethings lately and came across something about Doreen Woodbridge who was the wife of Charles Woodbridge who was J. Gresham Machen's mentor. If you know anything about me, you will know that J. Gresham Machen was the one who turned me onto a love for the Presbyterian church, which is why I went to one for a while. At any rate, the reason I write this is because I am inspired by her. She, at 88 years old, was a lover of truth and was saddened by the church today. She took James' plead for pure and undefiled religion and helped orphans and widows. She was a sinner, used by God to do great things. She lamented at the churches downhill battle away from truth of Christ being the center of our teaching and instead, in a last ditch effort to satisfy the communities desire, the church decided to talk about real things, like sex and marriage...forgetting Christ in it's midst. Christ was above all else, holy to her, and seeing the church demoralized in it's attempt to fit culture has made only trouble for modern society. Her wisdom surpasses all amounts of time."Her convictions defy everything that is temporary and fleshly. The gospel is the most “authentic” and relevant truth communicated to sinners, why line pure gold with gilded tin?" I see her godly life and I desire that I too would seek the purity of the gospel like she does. I yearn to be godly like she is. I yearn to be a strong woman who never wavers and is a pillar to her husband. I can't be that woman without the strength of the Lord and so I pray he grows me to be more godly and strong in Him so that I might influence my husband, who I pray will influence the world. I long to be a godly woman so that I can be an influence unto my husband, my children and whomever else the Lord grants me or my family contact with. It's sad to think that great people that God has been using through out the ages are becoming less and less, or so it seems. Where are the modern day Luther and Calvins? Where is the modern day Paul? Where is the modern day J. Gresham Machens? Where are the modern day wives that are supporting these men (Anna Bullinger, Anna Reinhard and Idelette D'Bure)? Well, Paul was single...but at any rate, I think it's time that our generation started acting like Christ and preserving His gospel! Praise God that no matter how wicked our world becomes, He will endure...His word will endure! Remember who you are in Christ and why we are here!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Identity Theft
Identity: what is it? It’s who you are and how you characterize yourself. It’s a way in which you are known. It’s what makes you: you. The world tells us that our identity is either by being unique in our style or by being like everyone else, it’s in our friends, it’s in our lovers, it’s in how gorgeous or famous we become. If you asked people what there identity was, you would get a variety of answers such as: my identity is in my clothing style, it’s in what my boyfriend thinks of me, it’s what my family tells me I am or am not. Is this how we should be identified? I am here to tell you that that is a vain identity. As Christians, our identity is to be found in Christ and in Christ alone. I have said this and known this, but it’s sometimes hard to not get caught up in other ways in which we find our identity.
Lately, I have been seeing my depravity in how I have identified myself. I have identified myself in the failure that I am to my parents. I have identified myself as a girl who gets walked out on by her dad. I have identified myself as the girl that is impossible to loved. I have identified myself in my boyfriend and in every thought and action that could lead to what he thinks of me. I have identified myself in what he, his best friend and his parents think of me. I have identified myself as the ugly, fat girl that my brother had called me daily for years. I have identified myself in the words that have been used against me by my brother and dad. I have identified myself as the girl whom the guy she loved, would never want her. I have identified myself as never smart enough, pretty enough or lady-like enough. I have identified myself as not being able to get any of the jobs that I want because I will obviously never be able to help others, though that is my desire. I have identified myself in my sin. My American mindset has told me what James’ and my relationship should look like and friends and family have given their input. I have let these things dictate my relationship and in frustrating situations, turned something that was an American ideal into a problem in my relationship. If I don’t have X then Y must not be working. I have turned my relationships identity into self-centered and American-istic ideas. And because of all of this, I have identified myself as no good, not worth it, never going to be anything I want to be, inadequate to do anything I desire to do for the Lord and unable.
Pardon my language by what kind of shit is that? I have fed myself lies from the truth of events in my life. I have let my life and the people in it, dictate who I am today. I thought I was stronger than this and here’s the deal. I am NOT! I have identified the problem and the problem is in my identity and who I really am. I am redeemed! I am forgiven! I am seen in Christ’s righteousness! Colossians 2:6-15 reminds us of the danger of being identified by anything other than Christ and tells us who we are in Christ by saying,
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
While I am not strong enough to do anything I desire to do and while I am still inadequate, since my identity is in Christ, I able to do all these things in Christ. He is strong and more than adequate and in Christ’s strength, I can be the woman I am supposed to be and do what I desire but can not adequately do on my own. In Christ’s righteousness, I can view myself so I can be a godly woman for the man I love and not the who I have been told I am or am not. I am not perfect, but can be seen as perfect in the sight of God because of Christ as my substitute. In Christ’s Fatherly care, I can trust he will NEVER leave me nor forsake me! In Christ’s love, I can know that he loved me first and chose me as his child. He chose me and died for me while I was still an enemy to Him. Christians “share in Christ's power and authority over every rule and authority by virtue of their union with him”. Since we are filled with Christ, we have everything we need in Him. I--have everything I need in Christ! I do not have to fear my inadequacies, I do not have to fear my abilities, I do not have to fear my outward person. I have been buried and raised with Christ on by the work of God in my life. I am dead to sin and alive to Christ. My sins were nailed to the cross as Christ’s palms bleed in my place. In Christ, we are more than conquerors.
Though most people may know this and may say, well, I already know this so it’s not helpful, I am going to take this one step further. How many times do we have to remind ourselves of our identity in Christ to remember our worth is found in Him? The same should be true of our thoughts of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I can’t tell you how many times I have been in the middle of or been a witness of lack of love for others. We know we are called to love our brothers and sisters and even our enemies, but have we thought about the fact that our fellow Christians have also been clothed in Christ’s righteousness, they are buried and raised in Christ. They are cared for by His Fatherly care....all just as I am.
Being in a relationship with someone completely sinful as me is NOT easy and sometimes makes me mad. Learning to love another person who will let you down is not easy. Instead of seeing all of James’ faults, I need to see my own first and further more, I need to see James in Christ’s righteousness. I remember the first time he said that to me, I was amazed. He said,
"I am so thankful that the Lord has given me you. And while you are so beautiful just as a saint and who the Lord has crafted you to be, you are all the more beautiful to me because you are a gift, a very special gift to me from a most holy God. You can try and tell me how terrible you are and whatever other excuse you can come up with. But I will not see you as that. The Lord sees you clothed in the righteousness of Christ and so to if my Lord sees you that way so too that is the way i see you. I hope you know that and you believe that. I won't do it perfectly by any means but one of my life goals will be to do that more and more. You are special to me and the greatest earthly the Lord could bestow upon me."
His words and this reminder left me feeling so amazed that another sinner would try his earthly best to see me the same way Christ sees us both. I never thought of it that way until he said it and as I thought about how much I have lost my identity, his words and remarks have rung in my ears. I have forgotten to see myself this way and I have forgotten to see him this way. I have lost sight of what it means to be a Christian and in that, who I am. I pray that I would be constantly reminded of my freedom in Christ and my clothes of righteousness that have been placed upon my previously unworthy self. I have gained everything in Christ and yet, by losing my identity, I had lost sight of everything that had been given to me. BUT I will never lose what our great Lord has chosen to give me...the gift of salvation.
So, here’s me...admitting my mistakes and showing my sinfulness, but thank God for his grace and forgiveness! The key now is to look to Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
(Hebrews 12:1-17 ESV)
Lately, I have been seeing my depravity in how I have identified myself. I have identified myself in the failure that I am to my parents. I have identified myself as a girl who gets walked out on by her dad. I have identified myself as the girl that is impossible to loved. I have identified myself in my boyfriend and in every thought and action that could lead to what he thinks of me. I have identified myself in what he, his best friend and his parents think of me. I have identified myself as the ugly, fat girl that my brother had called me daily for years. I have identified myself in the words that have been used against me by my brother and dad. I have identified myself as the girl whom the guy she loved, would never want her. I have identified myself as never smart enough, pretty enough or lady-like enough. I have identified myself as not being able to get any of the jobs that I want because I will obviously never be able to help others, though that is my desire. I have identified myself in my sin. My American mindset has told me what James’ and my relationship should look like and friends and family have given their input. I have let these things dictate my relationship and in frustrating situations, turned something that was an American ideal into a problem in my relationship. If I don’t have X then Y must not be working. I have turned my relationships identity into self-centered and American-istic ideas. And because of all of this, I have identified myself as no good, not worth it, never going to be anything I want to be, inadequate to do anything I desire to do for the Lord and unable.
Pardon my language by what kind of shit is that? I have fed myself lies from the truth of events in my life. I have let my life and the people in it, dictate who I am today. I thought I was stronger than this and here’s the deal. I am NOT! I have identified the problem and the problem is in my identity and who I really am. I am redeemed! I am forgiven! I am seen in Christ’s righteousness! Colossians 2:6-15 reminds us of the danger of being identified by anything other than Christ and tells us who we are in Christ by saying,
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
While I am not strong enough to do anything I desire to do and while I am still inadequate, since my identity is in Christ, I able to do all these things in Christ. He is strong and more than adequate and in Christ’s strength, I can be the woman I am supposed to be and do what I desire but can not adequately do on my own. In Christ’s righteousness, I can view myself so I can be a godly woman for the man I love and not the who I have been told I am or am not. I am not perfect, but can be seen as perfect in the sight of God because of Christ as my substitute. In Christ’s Fatherly care, I can trust he will NEVER leave me nor forsake me! In Christ’s love, I can know that he loved me first and chose me as his child. He chose me and died for me while I was still an enemy to Him. Christians “share in Christ's power and authority over every rule and authority by virtue of their union with him”. Since we are filled with Christ, we have everything we need in Him. I--have everything I need in Christ! I do not have to fear my inadequacies, I do not have to fear my abilities, I do not have to fear my outward person. I have been buried and raised with Christ on by the work of God in my life. I am dead to sin and alive to Christ. My sins were nailed to the cross as Christ’s palms bleed in my place. In Christ, we are more than conquerors.
Though most people may know this and may say, well, I already know this so it’s not helpful, I am going to take this one step further. How many times do we have to remind ourselves of our identity in Christ to remember our worth is found in Him? The same should be true of our thoughts of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I can’t tell you how many times I have been in the middle of or been a witness of lack of love for others. We know we are called to love our brothers and sisters and even our enemies, but have we thought about the fact that our fellow Christians have also been clothed in Christ’s righteousness, they are buried and raised in Christ. They are cared for by His Fatherly care....all just as I am.
Being in a relationship with someone completely sinful as me is NOT easy and sometimes makes me mad. Learning to love another person who will let you down is not easy. Instead of seeing all of James’ faults, I need to see my own first and further more, I need to see James in Christ’s righteousness. I remember the first time he said that to me, I was amazed. He said,
"I am so thankful that the Lord has given me you. And while you are so beautiful just as a saint and who the Lord has crafted you to be, you are all the more beautiful to me because you are a gift, a very special gift to me from a most holy God. You can try and tell me how terrible you are and whatever other excuse you can come up with. But I will not see you as that. The Lord sees you clothed in the righteousness of Christ and so to if my Lord sees you that way so too that is the way i see you. I hope you know that and you believe that. I won't do it perfectly by any means but one of my life goals will be to do that more and more. You are special to me and the greatest earthly the Lord could bestow upon me."
His words and this reminder left me feeling so amazed that another sinner would try his earthly best to see me the same way Christ sees us both. I never thought of it that way until he said it and as I thought about how much I have lost my identity, his words and remarks have rung in my ears. I have forgotten to see myself this way and I have forgotten to see him this way. I have lost sight of what it means to be a Christian and in that, who I am. I pray that I would be constantly reminded of my freedom in Christ and my clothes of righteousness that have been placed upon my previously unworthy self. I have gained everything in Christ and yet, by losing my identity, I had lost sight of everything that had been given to me. BUT I will never lose what our great Lord has chosen to give me...the gift of salvation.
So, here’s me...admitting my mistakes and showing my sinfulness, but thank God for his grace and forgiveness! The key now is to look to Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
(Hebrews 12:1-17 ESV)
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