David said > I may not be living like Christ did when he was 30, but maybe, just maybe, the life being manifested through me right now is like he was when he was 5 years old. Do you understand what I am trying to say?
Yes, I think I do. David, you may be aware of this. I think it's pretty cool. The Gk. word for children is paidia. Paidia comes from the word which means to impress; i.e, to leave an impression with a character stamp. It also means "formation" or "formable." When Jesus said that adults must convert and become like little children, he was saying that we must become impressionable or formable -- in other words, teachable. We always want to think we are teachable. I'm afraid that all too often something happens to us adults: we get to a point where we're no longer teachable. Jesus' warning is a sobering reminder that we are never too old to learn. I love little children: they just can't help themselves; they're little learning machines. This too is a sobering reminder to adults: children are impressionable; everything we do leaves a mark on them. There's no way around it. Thanks for the kind words and the Christian spirit. All is well. Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 10:10 AM Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] Christian Perfection > Bill wrote: > > David, I truly did not write intending to hurt you. > > I hope you understand that you did not hurt me in the sense that you > damaged me in some way. I was hurting because I thought you were saying > that I came across to you as your accuser. I did not want to do that to > you. Now that I know that I misunderstood you, there is no problem at > all. > > Bill wrote: > > Because of how I felt by what you were saying, > > a pseudo-motive immerged and I missed the actual > > intent; I missed your actual motive. In other words, > > I'm guilty of doing to you in yesterdays post, what > > you were guilty of doing to me in the preceding posts. > > The question is, what are we guilty of? > > If you judged the motives of my heart as being evil, then that would be > a moral problem. On the other hand, if you simply did not understand > what I was trying to communicate, that is not a moral problem. > > It really all comes down to love. If you love me when you are reading > my posts, you will not fall into sin. This would reflect itself by your > trying to think the best of me and assuming good motivations when there > is some question about it. Having some doubt about good motivations on > my part would still not be a moral problem, as long as you did not > assume this to be true without checking it out, such as by asking me > about it. > > With regard to my reading your post, I see no immorality whatsoever on > my part. I thought you were associating me with accusing you. Even in > that, however, I automatically assumed the problem was on my part in > poorly communicating with you. I felt bad that I had caused you to feel > accused by me. So, I backed off. Our problem here seems to me to be > imperfection in regards to knowledge, not imperfection in regards to > morality. In regards to the moral question, I still love you and you > still love me. I don't perceive any imperfection in that. > > Bill wrote: > > I think the accuser, the real accuser, is picking > > up on whatever that quirk is of our personality type > > and using it to our disadvantage. And so no surprise > > there, right? > > Right, and this does go on often, as the accuser loves to cause trouble > and divide friends. I am sure that the accuser is at work behind the > scenes to rob others of the truth that you and I have to share with > others. > > Bill wrote: > > I don't think this is necessarily a sin problem, > > but I do think it has moral implications. It is > > certainly an imperfection on my part. What do you > > think about this? > > I see an imperfection in knowledge and understanding, but not in regards > to morality. From my perspective, the moral question comes into play > when we consider our reaction to situations like this. If we divide > from one another as enemies and hate one another because of the > misunderstanding, then we would be guilty of sin. On the other hand, if > we just have some misunderstanding between us and we clear it up with a > sentence or two, then there is no problem. I'm not hurt at all now that > I know that you did not feel that I was accusing you. You did indicate > in this post that you felt attacked somewhat by my post. Hey, so what, > I understand that. I was challenging your viewpoint. I get those > feelings too sometimes when people challenge me, but when we put those > selfish feelings aside and operate in love rather than in response to > those feelings, then we have the victory. The fact that you are walking > in love toward me, rather than yielding to those feelings of being > attacked indicates to me that the love of Christ has victory over your > flesh in this matter. The flesh would either bolt away and give up > trying to talk with me, or it would fight angrily and try to hurt me > back. You have chosen the path of love, so despite the > misunderstandings, I do not believe that you have failed morally in this > way. I consider you perfect in regards to the moral issues involved > here. > > Now when I say "perfect," I don't mean that there might not be better > ways that both you and I will grow into. I just mean that there is no > darkness there. We talk about Jesus being perfect when he lived on the > earth, even as a child, yet the Scriptures speak about him growing and > learning obedience through his suffering on this earth. Clearly, then, > we grow as Christ also grew. Speaking of perfection in regards to > morality simply means that there is no darkness. Our light, however, > can grow brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. There are good > ways of doing things and there are better ways of doing things, and we > will always grow and learn better ways as we walk in moral perfection. > This attitude of always pressing forward to the high mark and always > growing is the attitude of those who are perfect. > > I often think of little children. They don't always do things so well, > but sometimes in their simplicity, we see absolute perfection, not > because it is the best, but because of the absence of darkness. People > often admire young children. It seems those who are older among us > admire them the most. We truly look at young children as perfect > sometimes. Why? Not because they are so great and mighty, but because > they have not yet been spoiled by the world in which we live. This is > the sense in which we might use the word perfect concerning the morality > that Christ works within us. I may not be living like Christ did when > he was 30, but maybe, just maybe, the life being manifested through me > right now is like he was when he was 5 years old. Do you understand > what I am trying to say? > > Peace be with you. > David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida. > > p.s. Judy, you might want to point out how terrible children can be... I > know, I have five children... I'm just talking about certain specific > situations when they just seem like little angels. :-) When I bring > them to a nursing home to visit, the elder people there just light up > like candles. I know that you know what I'm talking about. > > ---------- > "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org > > If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed. > > ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
