James 1:27
I have a problem. I look up too much and down too little. I look up to what other people have and attain, but rarely do I look down to what others have lost. I desire to step up to the higher standard of living while ignoring the gift of living more simply. I grow anxious as I think about ways to increase my financial security so I feel like I always have enough but miss the joy found by those who have less.
It is quite easy to be polluted. In our world pollution is a value. We are polluted by greed, security, and opulence. Living within your means (or living below your means), using things till they've lost usefulness, and identifying with the poor on not even on the radar of our world's value system.
But they seem to be the values Jesus shows His disciples.
How then will we live and with what values will our lives be guided by? We have the choice to be mindless as we absorb the polluted value system of the world in which we live, or we can set new standards based on the example of Jesus and the call to love and value all humanity. We can live these values and demonstrate the joy that comes with them.
Who's in?
