On Monday, I blogged about perspective and how certain things tend to color or influence the way we perceive things. But did you realize they can also affect the way we feel things?
That’s right. Sometimes our feelings are influenced by our misperceptions. If we aren’t careful this can be disastrous.
I’m a big-time guilt wrestler. Unfortunately, a lot of my guilt is motivated by the wrong things. For instance, when I’m working on multiple writing projects my house gets neglected and I feel a bit guilty that Michael and I are living in a quasi pigsty. Or if I eat a double portion of dessert without hitting the gym, I’m definitely feeling bogged down by guilt at the end of the day.
But when I think a hateful thought about someone who hurt me, or I tell a lie to get out of a bind, I’m not as inclined to feel guilty because I’m motivated by my own self preservation. You see, my perspective is off kilter. I feel guilty about things that affect me physically like how clean my house is or the amount of weight I might be gaining. But I don’t feel guilt about things that affect me spiritually and corrode my fellowship with Christ.
What’s the deal with that? Where did my perspective get so messed up? My problem begins when I start focusing on my happiness instead of God’s desire for me: holiness. Happiness and holiness are two totally different things.
In My Utmost for His Highest this week I read these words by Oswald Chambers:
God is not an eternal blessing-machine for men; He did not come to save men out of pity: He came to save them because He had created them to be holy.
There is both good news and bad news in this. The good news is this liberates me from the guilt I feel during weeks when my house gets a little dirty or on nights when I doubly indulge in dessert. Things like that aren’t important in the grand scheme of things. The bad news, if you want to call it that, is that God is very much concerned with my heart toward someone who hurt me and whether or not I’m honest even when I’m in a bind.
Sure, hating someone who hurt me and lying to get out of something I no longer want to do can be great tools when it comes to self preservation. But self preservation always keeps me from God’s best for my life. His goal for me is holiness. That means the sin I cling to so comfortably has got to go. Purging it is my only choice.
Some days it’s easy. Most days it’s down right hard. Holiness and happiness. Which one have you been holding up as your standard for living?
“Be holy for I am holy.” -1 Peter 1:16
Have you been living with the wrong perspective? How can focusing on happiness derail you from the path toward holiness? Why is striving for holiness so hard? What does it look like in the life of a teenage girl anyway?
