Freedom0401
Member
Hi Mari17,
For sure there are "gray" areas that have been, and still are, challenging to me.
I'd like to share some perspectives/viewpoints/beliefs that have been used to bring comfort and freedom to me. To be honest though, I don't always walk in line with these perspectives. But I'm a work in progress
So many of us want to please God. We want to be within His will. But we struggle with these "gray" or "grey" (what is the correct spelling btw) areas. We struggle because we don't want to mess up... to be in sin. But sometimes we aren't too sure,
you know?Dear reader, I have a question... What does it mean to become more and more like Jesus? Maybe somebody views this with a slightly negative connotation, as I think I've sort of done. For example, somebody may think it means I'll have to sacrifice more, live a more unpleasant life, give up desires, etc. But think about this, Jesus always pleased His Father. There were no issues with "gray" areas. There was no confusion within Him. His mind was perfectly sound. Jesus was as inwardly healthy as one could be. Actually, being made more like Christ is something so sweet and pleasant. It truly is desirable! And it certainly does not mean that desires will have to go unfulfilled.
What amazing news this is, for not only do we have a hope that is coming (paradise and perfection), but we also have a present hope in the truth that we are becoming more and more like Jesus. Romans 8:29 shows this. We are becoming more like Jesus. And this is not because we are trying so hard to become like Jesus, nor is it because we are "figuring out" all the gray areas via our research; rather, it's because this is our destiny. HE is doing it. An apple tree does not produce apples because it works its tail off to produce apples, rather, it produces apples because it's woven in the apple tree's DNA to produce apples. As reborn believers, we have a new DNA, so to speak. We can not stop becoming who HE wants us to become. I believe an outcome of becoming more and more like Jesus is that we do what pleases HIM more and more, and what displeases HIM less and less (possible reference 1John 3:8). Not perfectly, but progressively. We are improving. We are growing. And again, it is not necessarily because we are trying harder. No, no, no... the credit belongs to HIM. HE is changing us. We are becoming more loving. We are becoming ppl who are more willing to forgive. Those sweet fruits mentioned in Galatians 5 are being produced in us more and more. We are becoming people who please God more and more. If there is a gray area that we are not seeing correctly, that we are not behaving in a way that pleases Him with -- HE will... actually, HE is growing us there, too. (I know that doesn't directly answer the question of what one should do regarding their specific gray area, but it does give us hope regarding it). (Proof that we are growing and becoming more like Him can be found in Romans 8:29 and 2Cor 3:18).
In addition, in 1John 5:14-15 we see that we should have confidence when we pray if we ask for things "according to his will" (ESV). To paraphrase these two verses, when we pray according to God's will, we have what we have asked for. And I would guess many are familiar with Jesus' encouraging words in the Gospels to ask and receive.
We want His approval in every area of life (including those gray areas). If we are asking God that He would lead and guide us... if we are asking God that He would help us (maybe even cause us) to do according to His will, how will He not? (And that does NOT necessarily mean that if a person prays about a gray area, that the first thing they think or feel is GOD giving HIS answer). HE has provided us with common sense, and HE provides us with wisdom. And I believe HE has provided us with people whom we can confide in to bounce our questions off of, as well.
Something else to chew on...
Take a look at 1Tim 4:3-5. Paul talks about receiving things "with thanks" (ESV). I do not want to misinterpret anything here, so if there is a reader who disagrees with me, cut me some slack
(I don't know what this emoji is doing, but I kind of like it)But maybe we can apply this to our living... if we can reasonably thank God for something, maybe that shows it is within His will (and that doesn't mean we should twist things, for example, stealing something and then thanking Him for the stolen item...). But maybe we can find even more wisdom, discernment, and peace in giving thanks. Can you thank Him for what you want to do in the gray area? (Doesn't mean you have to go this way or that way with it, but if you can reasonably thank Him for it, maybe it's within His will / approval).
May we all find even more wisdom, discernment, and peace in these gray areas. In Jesus' name; amen.
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