Identity
The life we live is both spiritual and physical, accepting this will help you understand why most things happen and why what you do about it matters. Without accepting this, you are merely a wandering empty shell, because all you do is wake up, go to work or whatever you do, eat, sleep and wake up again. Repeating such aimless wander does not leave me with great excitement to be human. Having accepted that we are both spiritual and physical beings, it becomes necessary to consider which is more important.
Why should one be more important than the other? Because the important part of any human being determines how they react to things, it affects their perspective on everyday life. Based on my little life experience I would say it is greater to be more spiritual than physical. Having agreed to be a more spiritual being, I immediately have an identity of sort, a sense of where I belong, a sense of who I am and whose I am. Knowing who you are makes life a little easier, for example the fact that you know your name makes it easier to answer if someone calls you and when you have your name written on a property you can calm that property to be yours. Names help us identify ourselves and our properties. So it is spiritually, knowing who you are will help you resolve any issue that troubles you.
It’s also important to know which spiritual identity we need. For me that question is simple as I indentify with Christ. And this is the major difference from being religious and wanting to know Christ personally, not as a study of Christology but to have a personal relationship. So then, what is the problem you have that God cannot understand? God understands, because we know that Christ was in human flesh and had full understanding as a human being, feeling the pain, the gossip about you, the being broke, the lose, the anger of being let down, the desire not to forgive those who may have hurt you, a sense of weight on your shoulder, loneliness, jobless and many more issues that trouble us.
At this juncture, I would ask you let go of most religious preconceptions that you may have from your religious group and walk with me, believing that the spiritual life in Christ is greater than I the writer. For those that feel they know me, well let go of that little knowledge of Josh and to those who do not know me, your journey will be easier because you have no opinion at this stage (you may develop one later, hopefully a good one). I must also say that there is no desire from me to change your religious believes so if you are a Muslim, Hindu and many other religious groups out there, you are not being asked to run from your family or deny anyone. But I want you to understand that as a spiritual being, I personally have chosen Christ and my answers to any issue will finally be resolved from the perspective of what will Jesus Christ do?
Relationships
What is the answer to relationships? Why is it so difficult and complicated? Yet it is one of the most beautiful and fulfilling things a human being can ever be in because of our very nature as social being. The thing about relationships is, both of you have different upbringing and probably different perspective just by being of different genders, there is the man who in the past few years before you came was drinking and hanging out with the boys whenever he wanted to and there is the woman who dreamt of perfect love and met up with the girls whenever she wanted to. Already from my last sentence as you can see, the man did not think of love but the woman did and I am also of the opinion that women mature faster than men with regards to relationship. What I mean by this is that women are ready to settle and accept a man as a life partner faster than the man is.
Part of the problem for ladies is that the man did the chasing and convinced the lady of his good intentions and when she gives up and agrees suddenly the gentleman is not sure anymore (that is not necessarily true but it sometimes feels like that to the ladies). The man has simply become too comfortable in the relationship, so he appears nonchalant. On the other hand, sometimes a man could do everything to impress a lady and she agrees but after a while she comes out with “am no more in love with him” (this also is not necessarily true but when you say that to a man it becomes his nightmare). The lady could be facing new challenges that she feels this man can’t handle, hence her new desire to move on.
And of course the above may not be the problem with your relationships, it could simply be deceptions the fact that one of the partners never loved the other but has ascribed the word “love” to their desire of sexual pleasure. Or it could be that neither of the above example is an issue for you but you will certainly fall into the category of one partner cheating on you, either sexually, emotionally or financially. And if all the above does not fit you then you must be in a relationship of aggression either by physical or emotional. Now if none of the above defines your past or present relationships then I want to welcome you to the renewed life or to congratulate both of you on your disciple to abide in any situation.
The decision to abide in any situation (apart from physical abuse) and be renewed in your mind to understand and accept your partners short comings is the base of a good relationship and also the answer on how to have a good relationship. When you first met him/her your initial thought if genuine was good and of hope and probably a rush of some sort of excitement that made you sing the hallelujah chorus. So what happened?
Let’s assume this person is for real not the one who has conveniently ascribed “love” to lust ( and if you what to know ladies, just look into his eyes and hold out, don’t give in to that desire, we know how much you want to! We all want to...). As I was saying, if he/she is for real, then it is important that you let them know who you really are. Yes the real you that would even scare your mother! Yes that person! Not the nice person you present to everyone, but the real deal. Now if they walk away then they were not for you. Nothing will help you more than truth, and if the person chooses to lie to themselves, it will not last so you will not have to worry about getting rid of them.
The way you start your relationship is the way it’s going to be till the end, there may be a few bumpy rides but it will settle, hence my suggestion that the truth must be told. The problem sometimes of truth is that the person hearing it may not be able to handle it even if they have asked for the truth, so be prepared to lose out in your honesty. So to at least start well is important, for a good relationship you will need the real you, a goal for the relationship greater than both of you, faith based answers for the bumpy ride you will encounter all sealed in an envelope of genuine love for each.
I have often heard people say, love is not enough. I beg to differ, if they know the power of love, what it means to love someone without blame or moral high ground. Or if you try to understand the love of God for us, in that while we did not deserve it he sent his son to die for us. Now if you even have a tiny sense of that, then I must say love for your partner is definitely enough to hold that relationship together. Of cause, make sure to include the italic ingredients in the last paragraph.
more to come.....
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