“More is better” is the cry of this
fast-paced world. Everywhere we turn we are told that we need
something else to complete our lives. But what we desire and
ultimately possess, does not complete anything. It creates a lust for
more. We feel stressed, exhausted, and always lacking. The hurried
pace to have more overwhelms us, and we are lost in its control.
Christ teaches us that we can be free from this horrendous struggle.
It will not be our master, because we are under grace (Romans 6:14).
We can learn how to live simply in Him.
The simplicity that Christ offers frees
us from the rat race of life and brings peace to our harried
existence. This grace teaches that we are more important than what we
own. Possessions are not meant to possess us. They are meant to
enrich our lives. When we learn to live simply, we discover that
people are more important than what they have. The complexity of life
becomes one of peaceful simplicity.
“This is not possible,” you say.
“How can I live a simple life in this world that demands me to
achieve… to be better… to have more… to climb to the top?”
It is not possible when your heart has not reached a place of
surrender. It is not possible when you are the one in control of the
desires of your heart and not Him. It is not possible when your flesh
is more powerful than His Spirit. But it is possible when your heart
lets go of its own desires and seeks His will. Because His will is
simple. His message is simple. His heart is simple. Love as He has
loved you. Not things, but others.
Christian simplicity is a discipline of
mind that comes from a heart that has been broken from its own
selfishness, and given the grace to live selflessly. It is a grace
bestowed by God. We cannot will ourselves to live selflessly and
simply. It is a gift that we must receive from Him. It is a gift that
must be consciously surrendered in His service again and again.
Simplicity in Him frees us from what
encumbers. It liberates us from the bondage of things. It focuses our
mind and heart on what is important. His love. His forgiveness. His
purpose. His heart. It frees us to give ourselves away because He has
become more because we have become less. We can find His simplicity
that liberates. We can discover a haven that inspires. We can have
peace when faced with an overwhelming world. We can be content in the
midst of unrest. It begins in our heart, and frees us from the
tyranny of emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental havoc. Whoever
He sets free is free indeed (John 8:36).
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