Leah and I went over to my parent's house to enjoy a meal (my Mom made me a huge bowl of her fabulous potato salad and Leah made me a delicious homemade cherry pie) with my parents, my brother and sister-in-law and one of my nieces. After the meal we played a game called Yard Of The Month. YOTM is a seriously fun game created by my brother-in-law that everyone Leah and I have played it with have really enjoyed. It always brings a lot of laughing and fellowship. If you happen to come across the kickstarter for the game when it is launched, this is a game that needs to be in stores.
But like many games, YOTM doesn't work well when played with an attitude of love and grace. You can be nice to people, but sooner or later that isn't going to work out well for you. The point of the game is to win, and you can't win if you don't cause someone else to lose. At one point I remarked about my niece that she was the best Christian at the table, because even in the game, she sacrificed her well being for others, especially for my Dad. Instead of helping and saving herself, she often rescued others from the damage and negative results of the game play. She played a very gracious game. She also lost. I won, by the way, and I was not self sacrificing. I played somewhat viciously.
No, I don't regret first knocking my brother out and then my Dad. Nor do I regret sneakily making myself look like less of a threat while my wife and sister-in-law battled between themselves until I could swoop down and declare victory. We all had a blast. And I am not about to say that games should be played like life, with sacrificial love. There's no grace in baseball....and that is true of most sports and games. You can't win unless someone loses. While we do need to be loving in our attitude toward one another, it doesn't mean I don't love my wife, nor does it make her feel less valued or loved, when I smash her gnome in YOTM. It's a game.
But it's easy to fall into that game mentality in life. If I live in the mode of Jesus, loving and giving up self for God and others, how can I win? How can I come out ahead? How can I secure my own situation while putting others ahead of me? If I do that, won't I end up in life like my sweet niece who watched her garden be destroyed by others, even those she helped (including me), who did not return her selfless generosity but took advantage of it to further their own play?
Well, it all depends on what you really want and how you define winning. If winning is only coming out on top in business, in getting material things or approval or whatever, then perhaps to live like Christ is to lose at life. But when we lose we win, because those who sacrifice their life, find a better life, a life worth living. When I hit the goal of the game, the game ended, and I had won. But our life does not end when the breathing stops, and the one who dies with the most toys is not actually the winner. Winning is finding our completeness, our joy, peace, and contentment in this realm and the eternity to come. It is in relationship with Daddy, not in the stuff or accolades we collect.
We don't have to make others lose to win. We can shine the light of love and sacrifice, knowing that even if it makes us appear weak and people take advantage, if we lose the whole world, we will continue to have and enjoy something that can not be taken away. Our intimacy with Daddy is what makes life worth living. It is what fulfills us and brings us to the place where we have and are everything we know inside we were always meant to have and be. I may not be a winner by the world's standards. I am not highly praised or rich or successful by the world;s standards. But I no longer despair of life. I have a life worth living, that I enjoy, even when it is difficult and there is suffering, characterized by serenity, joy and love. When everything is said and done, if I lose my health, my wealth, and my standing, I will still have the game changing piece that was missing from the start. I have found the treasure that isn't dependent upon people, places or things on this planet, and that makes all the difference. And my having it doesn't mean that no one else can have it. It's not limited. There are enough pieces for you and everyone to have the treasure that I have found. The freedom and life that satisfies and is found in Christ.
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