GOD'S GIFTS & HUMAN RIGHTS

There are plenty of good things I can do to be a better person. I do those things in hope of making a better world, a kinder gentler place to live.  But those things are not the things that make me a disciple of Jesus; they are the fruit of my being a disciple.  “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

I can be doing just fine, being kind to all I meet, doing nice things, and feeling pretty good about myself and my life of service.; then someone gets in my way or does something that irritates me, and I loose it.  Or I am told to do something I don’t want to do, so I stand strong with my guard up and disobey.  For me that is when the cross I am to carry comes into play. 

Jesus doesn’t call me to stay in toxic situations or simply be a doormat; but he does call me to measure my response to any and all situations by following what he did as my example; to do what he would want me to do not necessarily what I would want to do.  Many times there is a big difference.

The point of the cross is sacrifice, the willing acceptance of a loss; to forfeit; to give up.  My way must always yield to God’s way; his way is always right for my soul.  “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits his soul” (Luke 9:25)?  Our present culture is obsessed with Rights, those things we say are due to us, owed to us, deserved by us; life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, control over our own bodies, marriage, and so on.  We are told that many of these are God given Rights, but I don’t see them listed anywhere in the Scriptures.  Rights have a human root to them.  God gives us gifts and those gifts are to be used for ourselves and for others.  I personally believe we wouldn’t have to worry so much about Rights if we were loving God, loving one another, and using our God given gifts the way God meant them to be used.