Thomas a Kempis (1380 - 1471) wrote the classic devotional work, The Imitation of Christ; which is second only to the Bible in terms of it's impact worldwide on the development of Christian Life.
Recently, this excerpt really struck me and we used it during our last class on Ephesians.
Four Things that Bring Peace to the Soul (p 139)
My son, now I shall teach you the truest way of peace and of perfect liberty.
- Study, my child, to fulfill another person's will rather than your own.
- Choose always to ahve little worldly riches, rather than much.
- Seek, also, the lowest place, and desire to be under others rather than above them.
- Desire always-and praythat the will of God be wholly done in you.
These challenges seem incredulous to our ears today, and likely did to his contemporaries as well!
Does your soul need some peace today? How might these guides serve you, counter-cultural as they are?
Comments
I believe we wrongly think that our self-will is evil when in fact our ability to self determine is God's greatest gift and is needed in order to freely choose to love him and others. There certainly are "sins of the self," but the exercise of our free will is not one of them. I don't want to come to the end of my days and meet God and have him ask why I lived out of someone else's will rather than the one he had given me within the context of my own life.
In looking at Jesus' life, I see that he both fulfilled the will of others "according to their faith" and also guarded his hurt through a life a prayer and submission to his Father. It's simply loving God and loving others (not necessarily above myself) but AS I love myself. For me that means, to the extend that I love God and am in an intimate relationship with him, so I will love myself and others.
Good challenging words.
Thank you
Marsha Crockett