Psalm 15 (see below) draws a pretty clear picture of righteous behavior. In the wake of New Year’s resolutions we should be fired up to rise to its standards.
It also represents most people’s idea about what religion is trying to get us to do – be good to others, love your neighbor as yourself, etc. The world religions come to a pretty good consensus on the broad strokes of ethical conduct.
Of course what defeats New Year’s pledges and our attempts to “shape up and fly right” is how hard they are to sustain. I believe one of the reasons people shy away from religion is because it seems so self-denying and self-defeating. How can I possibly to be good all the time?
When I fully embraced my Christian faith in my late teens, I expected to have God’s help in following the path of kindness, justice, and love for my fellow humans. What I didn’t expect was how much of the road would cover the landscape of my inner self.
It has been both fascinating and frustrating to me how much of my faith journey has revolved around me getting to understand myself better. On the one hand I accept that as my maker, God longs to share with me the intracacies of the nature built within me: to encourage me to develop my special gifts and to appreciate my amiable quirks. On the other hand, God keeps at me to uncover the roots of my foibles – understandably requiring a lot of hard and often painful digging. I have spent years sifting through my finds – sorting what is my guilt from the damage others have done to me. Part of me wondered, how is this making the world better if I have to be so focused on myself?
The answer I have received is that I have to know myself in order to become the person who can keep up treating my neighbor with love and respect. God isn’t interested in us going through the motions of good behavior. God wants us to become “new” people – sons and daughters who emulate their Parent in loving others, not because we have to, or are supposed to, but because it is our very nature to do so.
God works on us from the inside out, patiently but relentlessly showing us the truth about ourselves in order to heal our wounds (how others have hurt us) and retrain our less-than-loving impulses (how we hurt others).
So, while you keep mindful of your resolutions, don’t be surprised if you find you’re on an unexpected journey in search of your true self. God loves us not only as we are, but also for the greater version of ourselves that we can become with the Lord’s help.
Psalm 15 (from the Message)
God, who gets invited to dinner at your place?
How do I get on the guest list?
“Walk straight,
act right,
tell the truth.
“Don’t hurt your friend,
don’t blame your neighbor;
despise the despicable.
“Keep your word even when it costs you,
make an honest living,
never take a bribe.
“You’ll never get blacklisted if you live like this.”
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