Living in the Spirit
June 29, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 30

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
   and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment;
   his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
   but joy comes with the morning. –Psalm 30

God calls us to be a resilient people. We have been created to be springy—capable of bouncing back from mistakes we have made, trouble we are experiencing, grief, and other setbacks of life. This is what the last phrase in our scripture today is describing. We, followers of Christ take further assurance in this regard when we read in John 16:33 that he said, I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’

This is all predicated on our capacity to love like Jesus loved. When he quotes Leviticus 19:18, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, he is saying we must each come to terms with our own self-worth before we can recognize the self-worth of others. I believe a lot of the discrimination that exists in this world is a direct result of our inability to love ourselves. In order to feel good about ourselves we must place ourselves in a status that is better than some others. Such reaction causes discord and discontent in the world and we waste a lot more time and energy excluding people than we would if we included them. There are enough problems in the world without creating them for ourselves. One of the things the research shows is that high self-esteem can make people more resilient, make them keep on plugging after initially failing at something*.

It may seem paradoxical but the humility we are called to as God’s people is reflective of our self-esteem.

Prayer: Lord make us whole so that we may truly love like you. Amen.

*Frank Stephenson, Muse, February 2005 see at http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/resilient

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.