So the staff of the Southeast just left our regional conference where we heard from Dr. Coefield on the last night. He’s a counseling prof from RTS and an incredible resource to Cru (or whatever we’ll be called soon…topic for another blog!). He has an autistic son and he shared with us some observations he thought parallelled to us being “spiritually autistic.” The one I want to mention was repetitive, wasted effort . He counsels many staff and has seen a consistent struggle with performance and a lack of understanding grace. I noticed staff around me choking back tears - some failing. The issue of performance seems to run rampant through our ranks!
I think at this time of year, especially, the weariness surfaces and the realization that our “job” never ends and that we can always see where we could’ve done more or seen better results, is heavy upon us. Which is why Galatians 6:9 is one of my favorite verses. Look it up.
But this topic reminded me of 2 quotes I ran across recently which summarize incredibly well the reminder of how we need the gospel EVERY DAY since we are truly “special needs” children. I get irritated by the overuse of the word “gospel” in our circles and how it seems to become a mantra and maybe the real meaning gets lost. So the quotes below bring it back to what I need to be reminded of regularly! I hope you are encouraged by them and that you will spend this season of thanksgiving remembering what we truly have to be grateful for!
"The obedience that pleases God is obedience that flows from faith—faith in what God has already done, and trust for what he will do in the future. And even though we need to obey even if we don’t feel like it, long-term, sustained, heart-felt, gospel motivated obedience can only come from faith and grace; not fear and guilt. Behavioral compliance without heart change, which only the gospel can do, will be shallow and short lived." ( Tullian Tchividjian)
"So I learned that Christians need to hear the gospel all of their lives because it is the gospel that continues to remind us that our day-to-day acceptance with the Father is not based on what we do for God but upon what Christ did for us in his sinless life and sin-bearing death. I began to see that we stand before God today as righteous as we ever will be, even in heaven, because he has clothed us with the righteousness of his Son. Therefore, I don’t have to perform to be accepted by God. Now I am free to obey him and serve him because I am already accepted in Christ (see Rom. 8:1). My driving motivation now is not guilt but gratitude." ( Jerry Bridges)
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