How does one learn?
Many of us wrestle and reason with information as we learn, even as we learn the truth. Even as we are "arriving" in faith in Christ. That is the human process.
The Divine process is different. As Christians, Christ has done it all and then has called us. He knew us before He went to the cross. His foreknowledge means there is nothing for Him to "learn" about us. In other words, as we live out our lives we relate nothing "shocking" to our Lord. He chose us knowing full well how our lives would play out and how our thoughts would flow. That is the divine process, much greater than our mere thoughts.
"Accepting" Christ is different than diving in and learning more about Him. We may struggle more with all sorts of disparaging thoughts after this acceptance, but this does not change the Grace that follows our response to His call. As we struggle with growing our faith, we will encounter more information, and therefore more possibilities and more wrestling. As we walk with our Lord, our thoughts are ever more focused on Him. The thoughts will not always be pure, although we pray that they would be. As humans, our thoughts may betray us and our "faith." However, these are just thoughts, mere "what ifs" that exist in spite of our faith. In Corinthians I, Paul takes on the "what if" of resurrection to illustrate the importance of the resurrection as the key to our faith. Participating in the "what if" thought did not subvert Paul's faith, rather it helped him arrive at the core of our shared faith. And we learn from and by this process.
I get myself into trouble (with myself) when I read scripture to "check my standing with God" vs. enhancing my relationship with God. "What if I became perditious?" "What if I committed the unpardonable sin?" "What if I fell from Grace?" "Would I have been a disciple?" "Do I really have faith?" "Am I amongst the elect?" We can wrestle and perhaps learn, but what are we learning through these questions?
Contrast these questions with: "What can I learn from scripture today to enhance my relationship with God?" "What if I lived for God today despite my brokenness?" "What would that look like?" "Who can I pray for today?" "What if I shared my faith with a friend, or a stranger?"
"What if we could see ourselves as God sees us?" Would our thoughts and fears change?
Many of us wrestle and reason with information as we learn, even as we learn the truth. Even as we are "arriving" in faith in Christ. That is the human process.
The Divine process is different. As Christians, Christ has done it all and then has called us. He knew us before He went to the cross. His foreknowledge means there is nothing for Him to "learn" about us. In other words, as we live out our lives we relate nothing "shocking" to our Lord. He chose us knowing full well how our lives would play out and how our thoughts would flow. That is the divine process, much greater than our mere thoughts.
"Accepting" Christ is different than diving in and learning more about Him. We may struggle more with all sorts of disparaging thoughts after this acceptance, but this does not change the Grace that follows our response to His call. As we struggle with growing our faith, we will encounter more information, and therefore more possibilities and more wrestling. As we walk with our Lord, our thoughts are ever more focused on Him. The thoughts will not always be pure, although we pray that they would be. As humans, our thoughts may betray us and our "faith." However, these are just thoughts, mere "what ifs" that exist in spite of our faith. In Corinthians I, Paul takes on the "what if" of resurrection to illustrate the importance of the resurrection as the key to our faith. Participating in the "what if" thought did not subvert Paul's faith, rather it helped him arrive at the core of our shared faith. And we learn from and by this process.
I get myself into trouble (with myself) when I read scripture to "check my standing with God" vs. enhancing my relationship with God. "What if I became perditious?" "What if I committed the unpardonable sin?" "What if I fell from Grace?" "Would I have been a disciple?" "Do I really have faith?" "Am I amongst the elect?" We can wrestle and perhaps learn, but what are we learning through these questions?
Contrast these questions with: "What can I learn from scripture today to enhance my relationship with God?" "What if I lived for God today despite my brokenness?" "What would that look like?" "Who can I pray for today?" "What if I shared my faith with a friend, or a stranger?"
"What if we could see ourselves as God sees us?" Would our thoughts and fears change?
. You have described exactly what ocd'ers do! Check, check, and recheck our faith.
