On Truth – Poor Parallels

Greetings Dear Reader,

When one is trying to be honest in ones thought it is necessary that to be sure that we compare our reasoning to valid standards.  We tend instead to draw parallels that are not honest.  We compare our failures to things that make us feel better about who we are instead of comparing them to valid standards.

We adopt standards that are lower than God’s and compare them to standards that are lower than ours.  We put the failures of others as worse than ours and diminish our own accountability in doing it.  We judge others instead of holding our lives our as needing grace and redemption.  We find God wanting, dismiss him, and say we have no sin.

It is easy for me to talk myself into thinking I am in the right by comparing my situation to one worse than mine.  What I must always do is compare myself to the standards God sets for me.  I have no time to judge others.  I need to be concerned about where I am in relation to Christ.

Jesus never commands us to condemn others.  We are supposed to encourage and restore.  We are supposed to worry about the two by four in our eye before we try to take the speck out of someone else’s.  We are supposed to be following Christ.  Everything I do must be compared to who Christ is.

I cannot compare my sin to anyone else and gain any ground.  I cannot judge, reject, or condemn anyone else and hope to show them the love that Christ commands me to show them.  I cannot draw dishonest parallels and get anywhere.

I fail and I sin.  I deny the hard truth that my sin is my responsibility.  I have nowhere to go with this except to Christ.  I cannot compare anything to Christ honestly and find it better.  I cannot follow anything but Christ and find my way.  When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” he excluded any other way, truth, or life. 

It is hard to hear this but inside it there is a sense to it.  Why would I not see someone who commands me to love above all else as exclusive?  Why would I draw any other parallel when that parallel cannot be an honest one?  There is not honest parallel to Christ.

In Christ Alone – Stuart Townend

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe!

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones he came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath.

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)