Look at Me

Men can wear masks to conceal who they really are.  Like a person who portrays a popular character, man has the capacity to treat the world as a big stage.  He can pretend to be someone else as long as he likes without the knowledge of the next person. Although people around him can be fooled, he cannot deceive himself.  He can be a charlatan and suggest to people proposals but not do the same thing. At the end of the day, both he and God know what the veracity inside him is.

            One saying goes like this, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” We can also say that our action is the translation of what we truly feel inside.  An individual is familiar with his own deeds and thinking.  Even if he tries to hide his true being, it just comes out in a very unexpected manner.  It is safe to say that a person’s character is then distinguished when no one is looking at him.  The things that he commits secretly is what defines him.  Whether good or awful and even without anyone noticing, what a person carries out naturally constitutes his true self. 

            Many deem that an alteration of one’s self is somewhat unfeasible especially when you have had such attitude or way of life since then.  Truthful to say, our conscience has an impeccable role in forming our character.  If we listen to that still and small voice within us that tells us pertinent things given the different stressful seasons in our lives, we can win the battle between just acting as a righteous person and being someone who is innately righteous.  To give a concrete example, if you truly follow Jesus Christ, God’s endowment, the Holy Spirit who is our conscience, will guide you in your daily life.  If we trust our own will, we immensely find it hard to do good works. But because of grace and the Holy Spirit who works as our guide and conscience, we can overcome the thought and do things that we initially deemed we could never do.

            Who would not want his character to be one that is filled by conscience?  Is it not glorious on our end to have good works exemplified, at the same time, be true to ourselves?  It then has become a challenge posed to each of us to leave hypocrisy and practice what we preach.  After all, who covets to live a life that is full of lies and foolish? The ideal answer is “no one.” In reality, it is sad to say that many people fall short.  Some people do what is unethical just to have gains.

            It is amusing to think that we give it our best just to pose as someone who, in the first place, is not us.  We hide in sheepskins even though we are considered as wolves.  Are we pursuing to be like one until we die? We have one life to live, are we not supposed to make it count?  This is a challenge and I hope that we will not take it lightly. God rewards those that are righteous in His sight, not the self-righteous.

Our Awful Mess

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24, NIV

In reality, we clutter. Do you believe that we are faultless? No, for nobody is perfect. Although we persistently discover truths from what had happened to us in the past, we still are attracted to the act as if sin is embedded on us. Even though we strive to modify our actions, we fail. At the end of our own strength, we become frustrated, tired, and unresponsive to what life has in store for us.

The one mentioned above is the manifestation of the devil’s tainting of our goodness. We often ask why we, humans, still sin when it could have been prevented. Philosophers uttered several theories that could explain a person’s attitude, way of life and thinking. Many who were deemed to be logical had opposed the suppositions of others. Religions were attacked and false beliefs were tried to be altered. Moreover, arguments and sound discussions had taken place and it seemed endless to some. But after all of these, the truth prevailed.How was it judged? Which is valid?

In the attempt to distinguish the superiority and veracity of one belief to the other, a watchful exploration must be conducted. In line with this, I included a summary of each notion in this post. The first view, Personalism, tries to explain to us how unique an individual is and proves to us that each person has free will and value. Subjectivity is the staple of this view. This means that the experience of a person shapes him/her personhood. While the other, Relativism, tells us that all points of view are equally valid, and all truth is relative to the individual.

Relativism approves that no system of truth is superior to another one, and that there is no objective standard of truth. It would, basically, deny that there is a God of absolute truth. The goal of relativism is to avoid the idea that there is actually right and wrong. The effect of this is that people will continue to sin against a Holy God without them knowing that they are really sinning. All of these being said, in relativism, we are tolerating what is evil. A dose of Personalism or human encounter or experience with the truthfulness of God will change our lives significantly.

To be righteous, not declared by self, we have to experience the grace of God. The Scripture clearly tells us that all men have fallen short of the glory of God. By admitting that we are a sinner followed by the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are saved and can see God face to face when we finally perish. In the aftermath, you will notice that there is no more condemnation and you are sinning less. The Holy Spirit is our conscience. By His work, we will never be the same again and we can say no to sin.