Letting Yourself Go

A friend had given me copies of old magazines and I'm Loving them.  An article by Gary Thomas in the Discipleship Journal Jan/Feb 2003 where he says,  "Spiritual health is marked by vibrant, others-centered compassion and concern."

 "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible." 

1 Corinthians 9:19

Augustine said, God fashions us, that is, forms and creates us anew, not as men--for He has done that already--but as good men, which His grace is now doing. 

Being unselfish sets us free!  C.S. Lewis says, "Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.  Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.  Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin and decay.  But look for Christ, and you will find Him and with Him everything else thrown in."

I see myself as a pretty giving person and find it easy to give away but Gary Thomas's article drove right to a spot that I need to give up.  He says, "Some people are imprisoned by their demand for comfort.  Some..are imprisoned by what we own.  Others are imprisoned by their demand to be noticed, appreciated, or respected." 

I don't care about comfort nor am I tied to what I own but I have a heart imprisoned by wanting to be valuable to others.  To be respected and found competent.  To be respected.  It does imprison me and tie me up.

Gary Thomas invites us to experience freedom found in ignoring our first selfish impulses and allow God's Spirit to give us a heart for others.  

That's my Heart's Cry for me, for my family and for my friends...

Letting Ourselves Go!!!!! 

Being and Living Free!!