Realizing there isn't a middle ground can drive a mind nuts! It leaves you with only 2 choices then: Live for myself or live for Christ. Embrace the curse of sin, or embrace the way of life in which I was originally created to be-Christ's way of life. Live upside down in a backwards upside down world or live rightside... up and fight to be forwards, not backwards.
Both ways of life are painful. The first: (living for yourself) Because you are always searching for something to satisfy you. But that something is usually always found in things that end up bringing you only pleasure. As we all know pleasure only lasts for a little while. And so you are left wanting more and having to search elsewhere hoping you have better luck next time.
The second: (living for Christ) You are living in a way that is not your own. It is the way of life that Christ calls you to live. It goes against the grain of the wood of this world. It is a way of life that calls you over and above the highest of the highest of standards of THIS world. It is not what you would rather do. In fact, it is quite the opposite. His way goes so far as to love our enemies! To feed them and clothe them! Under the curse of sin we DON'T want to do that. We (no matter what culture you come from) do not like doing anything that puts us out of our comfort zone and makes us uncomfortable-so we can serve and love others.
The first choice (living for self) is a soul-murdering choice. Everyone hungers and thirst for something that goes beyond the limits what this world can bring. We long for peace. We long for a true home. We long to be accepted. But the things of this world doesn't hold what we long for. Why? Because this world is created, not the creator. The Creator of all things can give us what we so long for. Just as the farmer can give his crop the soil and the water it needs.. (although that's rather a bad analogy since the farmer doesn't necessarily GIVE the sun to the crop..but you get the point.) The first choice hurts us because we weren't originally created to live this way. We weren't made for selfishness, for decay, for death, and suffering. (Nor were we made to CAUSE/BE these things to OTHERS. For instance: we weren't made to make others suffer. Take Hitler as an example..) We were made for a higher calling in life!
The second choice ends in life. It hurts because we ARE under the curse of sin. And so it hurts to fight against it by living the way Christ wants us to live. It hurts to go against a grain buried so deep in our hearts. It hurts because we have weeds of corruption and decay entangled in our souls. But that is why we need Christ to rip out those weeds in our life. And that is where the pain comes in. But in the end there's life. An eternity with God Almighty. An eternity with the one so Holy even the angels cannot have themselves fully exposed in His presence. They must have coverings for their eyes and feet.
There is no middle ground. People often label (including myself) the first choice (living for self) as "easy" but it's not. Living in that way is not only soul murdering for yourself but for others too. You are living in such a way that KILLS others too!
You choose. But know that one way ends in destruction, while the other in life.
~Lissie~
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