Insight: God's Light for Values - Part 2

The essentials for effective change are insight, endurance and action, and usually develop slowly in separate stages but may occur simultaneously. Insight generates honesty with oneself and then stands with what is right and with authentic moral decisions. Insight serves as a bridge to value formation and clarification.

Values lay the groundwork for the development of self-respect and are incompatible with guilt, shame and disgust with oneself. God does forgive our sins when we confess, repent and express faith in Christ Jesus. Self-respect is a product of a clear conscience and is strengthened by refusing to take the easy way through life's challenges.

Ephesians 5:22 identifies self-control as a fruit of the Spirit. So, insight is God’s enlightenment that helps us make healthy choices. Self-respect derives from a clear conscience and aids us in choosing the narrow way that leads to life now and for eternity. The challenge is both difficult and rewarding. 

Insight: God's Light for Values - Part 1

One task of a counselor is to help clients gain insight for effective change. One of my psychology professors described insight simply as enlightenment. You now understand what was beyond comprehension. Insight is understanding, fused to wisdom, so that what you believe and the way you behave can be altered.

True, healthy insight is transforming because as it merges with your heart and soul, it changes how you live. Insight discovers at every age and stage of life new clues that identify who you are and what you can do. The pathway to ethical decisions and wiser choices comes from insight, as facts and truth are discovered about yourself and others.

Jesus said the true pathway to freedom is knowing the truth, accepting it and then finding ways of applying this knowledge to everyday life. Jesus promised to send the Counselor, whose role is to make known to every believer the truths of everything he taught. Isn't that exciting? Open your heart and mind and receive this promise.

Insight + Endurance + Action = Change - Part 3

Seldom does a day pass that didn’t require the need to change some aspect of life. Here we have two options: deny the need and neglect the chance for change, or go forward and pursue the opportunity God provides. God is at work to bring about maturity and insight. Listening and responding are choices which ensure that healthy change is acknowledged.

Insight is key to growth and maturity. 1 Timothy 4:29 identifies the source of wisdom and insight. "God gave Solomon wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured."  Proverbs 7:4 offers this advice: "Treat wisdom as your sister and insight as your close friend." Webster defines insight as the capacity to discern the true nature of a situation.

Insight should be pursued because it provides a permanent richness and fulfillment to life. It's the avenue to better relationships with friends, co-workers, family and God. Yet gaining insight requires diligent study and listening with determination to understand. God gives this gift to the willing, responsible recipient, so choose to be one. 

Insight + Endurance + Action = Change - Part 2

Change is usually dependent upon available choices but may be complicated by lack of courage to move forward. Three components of change are insight, endurance, and action. Insight is the capacity to comprehend possibilities that previously were obscure and to realize choices are now available to move forward.

To achieve what’s possible may require enduring trials and testing, perhaps failure. God's word assures believers who endure that they will be rewarded for their investment. That investment could include training for a new job, parenting children through the difficulties of adolescence, or enduring a bad marriage while hoping for a renewal of love, passion and friendship.

Insight, along with endurance, builds character and stamina that are ready for action and effective change. Jesus instructed his followers to go make disciples of all people, teaching them and baptizing them so they could be his people. Action under-girded by faith and trust honors God and makes effective change possible.  

Insight + Endurance + Action = Change - Part 1

Numerous times I've asked God to help me with something so I could be better prepared for a difficult task. Insight is essential for inaugurating needed change. Insight may come immediately or gradually, but applying the insight and wisdom God gives is essential for change. God gives us determination to integrate insight into our behavior and thinking patterns.

This is where endurance, the second component of change comes into play.   What does the word endurance mean to you? Endurance has a stick-to-it attitude. God's word informs us that Jesus endured the cross, the humiliation, the shame and pain so we would not have to endure eternal separation from God.

The end result of endurance is confirmation by God. "He who endures to the end will be saved." We have an advocate who remembers, who never forgets, who provides help at just the right time. Endurance is supplemented with stamina, which is replenished as we stay true to our calling in Christ Jesus. 

Imagine the Possibilities: Take Action - Part 3

If we’re honest, it’s relatively easy to realize some changes need to be made in certain areas of life. For some folks, minor changes would be sufficient, but for others, a major overhaul would be needed if this acknowledgment were taken seriously. Can you imagine the first century apostles, evangelists, preachers and teachers as they turned the world upside down with their commitment to Jesus?

The task of change is related to three basic components: insight, endurance and action. Change may hit like a tornado or come gently and unexpectedly. Change does require energy and effort as well as determination to endure. Insight as an agent of change is knowledge gained either deliberately or accidentally.

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.  In me there is no darkness." To those who comprehend and accept this challenge, a new world of experience awaits them. Jesus also said, “Take up your cross and follow me” to a different kind of experience, but one that honors and pleases God. This means Take Action. 

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You are invited to listen as I will be the guest on "Vital Issues in the Christian Home" next week on Thursday morning, May 19 from 10:30-11:30 Central Daylight Time on KHCB radio at 105.7 FM in the Houston area. To stream it live or for a listing of sister stations in TX, OK, LA, AR and FL, you may click on the KHCB link in the "About Me" section of this page.

Imagine the Possibilities: Take Action - Part 2

The issue of self-esteem has been a popular subject of numerous books and magazine articles. Self-esteem is related to the way you view yourself, what you think of yourself in relationship to the world, your perception of other people and what you think they think of you. Self-esteem is inseparable from your identity.

Your identity and purpose punctuate your uniqueness. The Apostle Paul instructed the church at Rome to be clothed, to put on Jesus Christ. To embrace Christ Jesus is a choice which assimilates all you are with the attributes and attitude of Christ Jesus himself. Amazingly, God gives you faith and righteousness when you accept Jesus as Lord of your life.

As you realize how gracious God is, it generates a yearning to love Him with all your heart and to love others as yourself. It is possible to love yourself as a child of God whose identity intersects with the righteousness of God. Though difficult to actualize such a choice, this privilege is made possible by God’s grace and mercy.

Imagine the Possibilities: Take Action - Part 1

Homer Hickman’s biography, The Rocket Boys, details how his father encouraged him to be a coal miner, but Homer realized he was meant for something else. Discovering what he was meant to be came about in a small West Virginia coal mining town after he observed Sputnik I, Russia’s first satellite orbiting the earth. A light turned on for Homer.

After briefly working as a coal miner, Homer accepted what he believed to be his destiny. His science teacher challenged him to accept what he could do and to stay with it. Homer’s inner values would insure his success. He became an engineer who trained astronauts for some of the first space flights.

It can be difficult to believe you’re valuable to God, that He’s interested in you. Perhaps Homer heard God’s challenge from 2 Corinthians 13:5. "Examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith; test yourself. Do you not realize you are in Christ Jesus?" The values offered to you by Christ Jesus always will enrich and sustain your life. 

Open Minds and New Ways - Part 3

The movie, The Winslow Boy is about a fourteen-year-old boy who was expelled from the British Royal Naval College after being accused of theft. The script presented a collision of values in British society and demonstrated the way each character dealt with facts and truth, as well as the nature of their core being that needed transforming.

Transformation awakens and creates values. Psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote, "Many problems disappear or could easily be resolved by staying in conformity with one's values. Honesty with oneself and clear knowledge of one's character are prerequisites to trustworthy moral decisions."

In the case of The Winslow Boy, justice was overridden by doing what was right, which demonstrated God’s mercy and kindness. Through God's grace and faith in Christ Jesus we are made righteous in God's sight. If you receive justice, what you deserve, what do you get?  We’re redeemed by God's righteousness, which gives us hope and determination to make choices pleasing to Christ Jesus.  

Open Minds and New Ways - Part 2

“Loving God with all your heart, soul and mind” is not something most people continuously think about.  Neither does “loving your neighbor as yourself” always get prime time consideration.  This does not mean these values are missing from your life, but they should be the most important guidelines for everyday living.

Rarely does a day go by without encountering situations which require asking questions like: "What should I do?" "How should this problem be resolved?” "How should I live my life?" "Is there hope?" At the core of such questions lie the heart and soul of a person's value system. Values define what actions need to be taken.

Life does not always present a clear way forward and may require clearing away some wreckage and chaos so wiser choices can be made. Listen to a choice Jesus extends to you. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." It’s this light that empowers you to make choices to honor and follow Christ Jesus.  

Open Minds and New Ways - Part 1

Tolerance does not come easy for some folks. In fact, tolerance may require total transformation by God’s redemption. An indication of spiritual transformation signals a change from being an enemy of God to becoming his friend. This makes way for developing new values that are compatible with God's values.

God's transforming power replaces a closed-minded attitude with an open mind that includes God’s love and purpose for ourselves and others. What seemed hopeless becomes possible because with God’s gift of tolerance we have peace and a developing attitude of confidence. Peace produces compatibility with God and a partnership with him to do his work in the world.

Tolerance gives evidence of a deepening love for God, a healthy love for others and an adequate love for self. It also produces a framework of personal conduct that affects the lives of others and encourages them to enter the Kingdom of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Sounds challenging, but exciting. 

Endure: Press Upward and Onward - Part 3

In the decade of the 1960's, values of the previous generation came into conflict with young people, producing a period of political, social and spiritual upheaval. The sexual revolution and escape from conventional values indicated change was inevitable. The Bible, prayer and God were expelled from America’s public schools.

Protests on university campuses and other demonstrations gave voice to those seeking change. Change in a nation’s social structure doesn't come without some degree of outrage. One thing’s for sure, turbulence demands examination of basic values and the will to endure.

Our society has gone through numerous changes, and many more are sure to come. One stabilizing force in times of change is to "love the Lord your God with your complete being and love your neighbor as yourself." James 2:8 calls this the royal law because it demands for tolerance and good will to be extended to others. This command helps us stay focused on the fact that we are God's creation and he love us all equally. 

Endure: Press Upward and Onward - Part 2

People who do aerobics and other sports learn the importance of building endurance, or “no pain, no gain”. Many wonderful Christians have had to endure physical and perhaps emotional pain for years. Yet they tell you that God gives them strength to endure. It's true, we're not all created equal, and life can be more complicated for some than others.

Endurance may include pressing on toward godly goals even when failure seems eminent. One of the hard sayings of Jesus was to "take up your cross and follow me." Pressing onward could mean working through difficult problems instead of giving up or denying they exist.

Jesus would not advocate something so important without empowering you to endure. Listen to his words. "If anyone would come after me, he must take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me shall find it." Reconstructing your values demands faith and trust in the presence and power of Christ in you.  

Endure: Press Upward and Onward - Part 1

Value clarification and renunciation are teammates. Value clarification is necessary when facing conflict and difficult choices. Renunciation compels us to forsake sin and deny Satan access to our lives. Renunciation demands the abandonment of the broad, easy way Jesus said leads to destruction.

Renunciation is emboldened by godly values, as 2 Corinthians 4:2 implies.  “We have renounced secret and shameful ways. Neither do we use deception to distort the word of God. By setting forth the truth plainly in God’s sight, we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience." In moments of weakness we’re tempted to take the broad and easy way by acting as if we’ve never been redeemed.

When and if this happens, pledge to forsake sin and deny Satan access to your choices. Permit God's grace and mercy to restore, reclaim, cleanse and forgive you completely. With this renewed determination, endurance and moral character grow stronger. That's good news!