Luke 8:39 Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.
God delivers me from myself. This is what I tell people that God does for me. When I go to jail or when I meet a patient struggling with some self-inflicted destruction, I tell them that they do not need to live like this. I tell them of my struggle, my destruction and what God has done for me. This is what Jesus commanded the man in today’s passage and it is what He has commanded me to do.
In the story, Jesus met a man whom we would consider to be psychotic. He was violent and unrestrainable, running around naked and living among the tombs. He had his demons. Then he met Jesus and was made whole, returning to his right mind (vs 35). The man, in love with the one who healed him, asked Jesus if he could follow him. Jesus had different plans for the man though. The man was instructed to go and tell others what Jesus had done for him.
We too, are to bear witness to what Christ has done for us. The problem of course, is that we often do not have much to tell. When asked what difference God has made in our lives, we hesitate and mumble. Well, I’m thankful for stuff and for not going to hell…
I have felt this way. I have felt a sense of duty to tell others what God means to me and I have felt the sting of not having much to say. It was not that I did not have any defects, it was that I had not really allowed God to work on them.
He who is forgiven little, loves little (Luke 7:47). Those of us who have been forgiven for little often are not in this condition because we have lived perfect lives, but rather because we have refused to confront and repent from the defects we do have. We remain enslaved to secret pride, resentment, anger, lust, greed, or addiction, and thus, have no happy story to tell. When someone asks what Jesus has done for us, we just do not have much to say as we are still clinging to our demons.
My faith starts with God and my story must begin with him and what He has done for me. If I want a story to tell, I must allow him to be God and I must allow him to deliver me from myself. My part is to do whatever it takes to abandon my defects and follow him. He will always do his part and grow his life in me.
As I turn from self to God daily, He transforms me and continually delivers me from my own destruction. When I am honest and willing to be transparent about my own struggles, God uses this in the lives of others. The key to opening others up, allowing them to be honest about their defects, is to be honest about mine.
When we follow Christ, He delivers us from ourselves. When we share that with others, He uses it in their lives. Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.
The Seeds of the Spirit is a daily blog based on a walk through the New Testament. Written from the perspective of my own addiction, it explores the common defects of our flesh nature and the solution, our spirit life. If you find it helpful, sign up for the blog as a daily email, tell your friends and like/share it on Facebook.