Wholeheartedly

 

Jesus is… 

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

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Life is difficult. We can accept that or get aggravated, but we cannot change it. The mistake we make is to believe that life should be easy. The problem isn’t that life is difficult. It is supposed to be difficult. The problem is when we expect life to be easy or go in search of an easy life.

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The quest for an easy life seeks to avoid all difficulty and friction. This is impossible, so we become agitated and angry. All our efforts to avoid the difficulties of life lead us away from everything that is deeply satisfying. 

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The obstacle we face as individuals (and as a culture) is that it is impossible to embrace the difficult teachings of Jesus while we are so committed to our quest for the easy life. And so, we are confronted by a question: Are we willing to give up our love of comfort and our quest for the easy life? 

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Over the next 40 days we are going to explore the 40 most challenging teachings of Jesus. Along with each of these teachings we will explore the practical fruits and blessings that come from embracing that teaching. It is my hope that with each passing day you will be more convinced than ever that today’s culture is bankrupt and that the ancient path of Jesus is worth exploring more deeply than ever before. 

 

You may agree or disagree with the forty I have selected. That’s okay. I hope you will comment below and together we can have a vibrant discussion. I would like to make clear that I have made no attempt to try to rank them in order. I believe that would be impossible. 

 

Now let’s take a look at the first of Jesus’ difficult teachings. 

 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” It is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 22, verse 37. 

 

This is the Shema Prayer. It is the most repeated prayer in the Jewish tradition, because they believe if you spent your entire lifetime trying to live this one prayer, you would live a deep meaningful life that was exceedingly pleasing to God. 

 

Let me ask you: Have you ever done anything wholeheartedly? Have you ever made a wholehearted attempt to live the teachings of Jesus? What do you have to lose? What’s the worst that could happen? How long will we hold onto the bankrupt ideas and philosophies of our age? Are you ready for a new beginning? A fresh start? 

 

This difficult teaching is about commitment. Do you struggle with commitment? Do you like to keep your options open? Have you been taught to prioritize options over commitment?   

 

The more options and opportunities you have the harder it is to commit, and we live in a world of almost limitless options and opportunities. I get that. But leaping from one distraction to the next will never fulfil us.

 

The best things in life require commitment. Deep relationships, personal development, mastering a craft or career, and spiritual growth all require commitment. Commitment costs in the short term, but in the long term itbears amazing fruit. 

 

Why are we so allergic to commitment? Because it turns our lives upside down. Commitment rearranges your priorities and turns your life upside down, so who and what you commit to really matters.

 

Make no mistake, if you fully embraced even one of these teachings we are exploring together, that one teaching would turn your life upside down, but in the most wonderful ways. 

 

Here’s the thing. The easier we try to make life, the harder it becomes. Great joy is often the result of great effort. Throw yourself into this wholeheartedly and miracles will happen. Somewhere deep inside, we are all yearning to throw ourselves into something wholeheartedly. This is the right thing. A difficult thing, but the right thing. 

 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

 

And if you liked the video, you’ll love the book! Click here to order.

 

 

Who Is Your Neighbor?

 

Jesus is… 

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

 

One thing that is critically important to keep in mind as we make this journey together is the definition of difficult. Difficult: requiring much effort to accomplish. The most important thing to understand about difficult is that it is not impossible. Too many people think that the teachings of Jesus are impossible, and that is not so. History is full of men and women who have celebrated life through these teachings.

 

Now, let’s take a look at today’s teaching. 

 

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” It is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 22, verse 39.

 

If you thought loving a perfect God was hard, wait till you really try to love your imperfect neighbor. People can be obnoxious, selfish, irritating, impatient, arrogant, and endlessly creative in their ability to annoy you.

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There are two astoundingly difficult aspects to this phrase from the Gospel. The first is that Jesus assumes that you love yourself. This is perhaps what is most radical here, and also what is most often overlooked. It may also be one of the hardest aspects of the Christian faith to live. Jesus invites us to a total love of God and a generous love of neighbor, but he assumes that we already love ourselves. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is a connection between our ability to love ourselves in a healthy way and our ability to love our neighbor. If you despise yourself, and many of us do at different times in our lives, that needs to be attended to. 

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The second is the question asked by the lawyer in Luke’s Gospel, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). The world is full of desperate need and destructive want. When we put our wants ahead of other people’s needs, we abandon our humanity. Who is my neighbor? That is the question of questions. It is one of the biggest questions of all. It challenges our morality, ethics, virtue, and worldview. When it comes to both world affairs and our individual quest to live authentically, this is a huge question. Who is my neighbor? One day I hope to write a book on this question alone. All I will say here is that the more we grow in wisdom and holiness, the more people we tend to include in our answer to this question. And for the saints, there were no strangers, just neighbors.

 

Jesus sets up this triad of teachings as the essence of the Gospel: Love God; love yourself; and love your neighbor. All are necessary to live the rich and full life of a disciple.

 

Once upon a time there was a young man who wanted to be a great saint. He spent hours each day in prayer and reading the holy Scriptures. One day, he said to God, “I love you above all else.” A moment later, he heard a voice from the heavens say, “Prove it.” The young man reflexively responded, “How?” And the voice from the heavens replied, “Love your neighbor.”

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Love of neighbor is proof that we love God. 

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“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a consumer, be a disciple. Change a life today by sharing this video with someone else!

 

And if you liked the video, you’ll love the book! Click here to order.

 

 

Do Not Worry

 

Jesus is… 

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

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One of the biggest mistakes we can make when it comes to the spiritual life is to think that it will be easy. When you know something is going to be difficult you prepare for it and approach it with a certain mind set. If you expect something to be easy, there is a tendency to approach it lackadaisically. The psychological damage we can do to ourselves when we approach something difficult with the mindset that it should be easy is vast. When the thing we are approaching is a spiritual teaching, we can do vast spiritual damage to ourselves also. 

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The teachings of Jesus are difficult. It is important to approach them with the mindset that great effort will be required and rewarded. 

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Now, let’s take a look at today’s teaching. 

 

“Do not worry.” 

 

Jesus repeats this teaching in several places throughout the Gospels. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus talks about “the worries of life” choking the Word, making it unfruitful. But this teaching is central to one of my favorite passages which is in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 6, verses 25-34.

 

“Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”

I have many great memories of leading people in prayer and meditation on this passage. I always chose it for our reflections the first day on pilgrimage, to encourage people to leave whatever troubles were brewing at home and be fully present to the experience of the pilgrimage. 

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Most people spend a lot of time worrying. We are anxious about so many things.

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Worry and anxiety are often the result of violated boundaries. Not other people violating our boundaries, but violating our own boundaries. We think we are responsible for things we are not responsible. I’ll say it again, a lot of worry and anxiety is born because we think we are responsible for things we are not responsible. So, next time you are anxious and worried, ask yourself, “Am I responsible for the thing I am anxious or worried about?” It may be someone else is responsible, and it may be that the things you are worried about are in God’s hands and His responsibility.

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It’s natural to have a passing concern about this or that, but as that concern crosses our minds, we find ourselves at a fork in the road. 

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One fork in the road leads to the land of rumination. Our minds delight in ruminating on problems. We think all our worry and anxiety is working toward a solution, but it isn’t. We think all this ruminating is accomplishing something. It isn’t. Our minds don’t want to solve the problem once we get down this path, because it delights in ruminating on it. The easiest way to test this truth is to notice that our minds ruminate on situations that we have absolutely no influence over. No amount of ruminating is going to bring us control over that situation. 

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The other fork in the road leads high into the mountains. It is the path of prayer. This is definitely the road less travelled. We would rather worry uselessly about things we cannot change, than pray with purpose to the One who can change all things. 

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When you are anxious or worried, observe yourself, do you pray? If not, why not. 

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Trusting God is the antidote for worry and anxiety. Prayer is a simple expression of trusting God. Turn your worry into prayer. Trust. Surrender. Believe. Receive. 

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“Do not worry.” Trust. Surrender. Believe. Receive.

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

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I Am the Way

 

Jesus is… 

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

 

Jesus was very clear about who he was and what he was here for, and he wants to help you develop that same clarity.

 

In John’s Gospel Jesus gives seven very clear descriptions of himself.

 

"I am the vine.” John 15:5. "I am the light of the world.” John 8:12. "I am the good shepherd.” John 10:11. “I am the gateway.” John 10:9. "I am the resurrection.” John 11:2. "I am the bread of life.” John 6:35. And today’s difficult teaching, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6.

 

Today, we are going to focus just on the first part of this quote. Jesus says, “I am the Way.”

 

The world says there are many ways to get wherever it is you want to go. The world says chart your own course, make your own way. The world says you are the master of your journey. The world makes it sound easy and enjoyable. Jesus disagrees.

 

With Frank Sinatra we often cling fiercely and foolishly to our independence and announce, I’m going to do it “My Way!” There is a personal path for you to walk, but it is not discovered by pridefully asserting our will. It is discovered by humbly surrendering ourselves to the will of God.

 

“I am the Way,” Jesus said. It was in response to a question Doubting Thomas had asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5).

 

When you reflect on Thomas’ question, Jesus’ answer is unexpected and perplexing at first. Why? Because of the way we think. The disciples wanted Jesus to say, do this and this and this. They wanted him to say, these are the seven things you need to do, or the four steps that will get you there, or the five things to avoid. They were looking for a map, a linear path, some clear directions, warnings about danger along the way, and a list of what they needed to pack for the journey.

 

But Jesus says, no need for elaborate plans, you don’t need to pack anything, just stick with me. Stay close. Just be with me, I am the destination you are constantly obsessing about. 

 

It’s the being that we struggle with. Some of Jesus’ teachings are about doing, but many of them are about being. We prefer doing over being, because doing distracts us from the becoming we are called to and ignoring. That’s why we find it so difficult to be still and quiet. And that’s why all of Jesus’ doing teachings are preceded by being teachings. It is by simply being with Him that we are prepared to go out into the world and do something meaningful. 

 

We live in a world full of people who are lost and pretending they are not. Sometimes we are one of those people. And to some extent we are all lost and needed to be found all over again.

 

Today’s difficult teaching is a beautiful invitation. Jesus says, “I am the Way.” He is the way from darkness to light, from anxiety to peace, from dissatisfaction to fulfillment, from death to life, from meaninglessness to purpose, from nothingness to everything that matters. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a consumer, be a disciple. Change a life today by sharing this video with someone else!

 

And if you are enjoying the video, you’ll love the book! Click here to order. 

 

 

Ask. Seek. Knock. 

 

Jesus is… 

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

 

One of the most powerful forces at work within us is motive. What people do and say can be interesting, but why they do what they do and say what they say is almost always fascinating. Motive reveals our deepest fears and desires. 

 

It also plays an important role in today’s difficult teaching.

 

“Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” It is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 7, verse 7.

 

When people think of the most challenging teachings of Jesus, this is probably not one that quickly comes to mind. But asking, seeking, and knocking are much more difficult than we realize. 

 

Asking is a risk. Seeking is a risk. Knocking is a risk. They all require humility and vulnerability. But most of all, they demand wisdom. If you ask for the wrong thing and it is given to you, you are probably worse off than if you had never asked at all. If you seek the wrong thing and find it, you may be distracted for the rest of your life from your true path. If you knock on the wrong door and it is opened to you, and you are invited in and welcomed, you may get comfortable and never find the right door.

 

The reason most people don’t ask, seek, and knock in prayer is because they want things that they know God does not want for them. We know our motives and desires are not aligned with God’s, and so, we leave him out of it. 

 

Imagine if instead of asking God for wisdom, Solomon had asked for an extra thousand head of cattle. What a colossal and epic misstep that would have been. You and I can see that as we reflect upon his life and the history of his people, but we misstep in similar ways every day. God stands willing to give us so much, and we ask for so little. 

 

This is the wisdom to the asking, the seeking, and the knocking. Forget about whatever it is that you want, and even what you think you need. Ask Him to teach you want to ask for. Ask Him to teach you what to seek. Ask Him to teach you where to knock. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

 

And if you liked the video, you’ll love the book! Click here to order.

 

 

Deny Yourself.

 

Jesus is… 

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

 

What would happen to a group of people who were encouraged from the day they were born to indulge every whim, desire, and fantasy that entered their minds? Little imagination is needed, because sadly, tragically, we are now witnessing whole generations of people who have been raised on this misguided ideology.  

 

Now let’s consider it from another viewpoint. How often do you say no to yourself? When was the last time you said no to yourself in something that was difficult? Are you clear about the value of saying no to yourself?

 

Today’s difficult teaching is…

 

“Deny yourself.” It is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 16, verse 24.

 

For context, the whole verse reads, “Then Jesus told his disciples, “Anyone who wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” 

 

Self-denial is the condition that Jesus sets for discipleship. Why is denying ourselves so important? Is it the centerpiece of Jesus’ teachings? No. Why then does Jesus set it as a foundation of discipleship? It’s about freedom and self-possession. The essence of Jesus’ teaching is love, but you can only love to the extent that you are free, and we are only free to the extent that we are able to say yes or no to anything. This self-possession determines our capacity for love. For love is to gift ourself to another, love is self-donation, and you can only give yourself to the extent that you possess yourself. 

 

Someone who has no self-control is completely incapable of love. We see this on full display in people seriously addicted to drugs and alcohol. On the other hand, someone who has great self-control, who can direct his or her thoughts and actions at will toward what is good, true, noble, and just, is truly free and capable of immense love. 

 

This is what Jesus desires for you. He wants his disciples to be capable of immense love. This requires the freedom of self-possession, which can only be developed through the rigorous spiritual discipline of denying yourself. 

 

You will notice also that Jesus’ mandate is “daily,” not some days, occasionally, or when we feel like it. Mastery of anything requires daily practice. 

 

Denying yourself in small things, tiny things, seemingly insignificant things, helps you to develop soul strength just like lifting weights would help you to develop muscle strength. You focus on your work when you would rather indulge a distraction, you go for a walk when you don’t feel like it, you have water instead of juice, you have an apple when you really feel like potato chips, and each of these tiny acts of self-denial sets you free, increases your self-possession, strengthens your soul, and exponentially expands your capacity to love and be loved – and Jesus wants you to love and be loved immensely.

 

This single idea of denying self is enough to understand why people in today’s culture are rejecting Christianity at an astounding rate. They see it as a limitation and imprisonment. Addicted to the selfish and childish notion that freedom is the ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want, they enslave themselves in a thousand ways and are anything but free.  

 

And yet by rejecting the life Jesus invites them to, they alienate themselves from the one thing they desire more than anything else: love.

 

The self-denial that Jesus invites us to is not life-limiting, it is life-expanding. At World Youth Day in 2001, Pope John Paul II said, “Jesus does not ask us to give up living, but to accept a newness and a fullness of life that only He can give.”

 

We do not lose ourselves by denying ourselves, we find ourselves and come into full possession of the-very-best-version-of-ourselves. 

 

The ability to deny oneself seems to be at an all-time low in today’s culture, and loss of self at an all-time high. They are directly related. If the discipline of denying ourselves leads us to discover ourselves, then the rejection of this discipline causes us to lose ourselves. 

 

The teachings of Jesus are full of paradox. It is by denying ourselves that we are set free to live life to the fullest. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a consumer, be a disciple. Change a life today by sharing this video with someone else!

 

 

Love Your Enemies

 

Jesus is… 

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

 

When people speak of love they are usually referring to romantic love, but romantic love is a poor guide to the vast universe of love, and a distorted lens through which to understand love. So, let’s start at the beginning. 

 

What is love? To love is to will the good of the other. To love is to desire what is good for the person you are directing your love toward. This has nothing to do with feelings or romance. 

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

 

“Love your enemies.” It is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 5, verse 44.

 

There are two reasons we struggle with this teaching that I would like to discuss briefly. The first is the obvious, we cannot imagine ourselves loving our enemies. But that’s because we are confused about what love is and isn’t. The second is blinding reality that if we are called to love our enemies, we are called to love everyone. 

 

Does God really want us to love everyone? Yes. How is that possible? Well, it certainly isn’t possible if we carry our distorted romanticized ideas of love into the quest to live out the difficult teachings of Jesus. 

 

Love is not the same as like. Love is a Divine summons and like is a personal preference. You can love someone without liking them. You can love Someone and detest the things they do, radically disagree with their opinions, and find their approach to life completely repellant. 

 

Us human beings are experts at creating exceptions to the rule and just as good at making excuses. Many of Jesus’ teachings illuminate our excuses and neutralize our exceptions. This teaching may be at the top of that list. 

 

Jesus knows that if you can love your enemies, you can love everyone. If your enemy sits within Jesus’ definition of neighbor, who isn’t your neighbor? 

 

Here we see the genius of the Gospel on full display again. Learning to love your enemy is life-shifting, because the realization that you can love your enemy puts your relationship with people who frustrate you, annoy you, and inconvenience you in a whole new perspective. 

 

Love your enemies. Desire good things for the people who frustrate you, annoy you, inconvenience you, gossip about you, try to harm you, and indeed hate everything about you and all you represent. What does that look like in practical terms? When someone upsets you by cutting in front of you on the road or by taking a parking place you are about to pull into, desire patience for them, desire peace and serenity for them. 

 

There is one last point that is worth pondering here. Jesus assumes you will have enemies. He expects you will have enemies. This means, that if we don’t have enemies, we are probably doing something wrong. We might have lost our salt and our light. 

 

Of course, it would be easy to go and amass a whole bunch of enemies for all the wrong reasons. It may seem ironic, but it’s important to have the right enemies for the right reasons. 

 

Here are some questions to consider: Do people despise you for your holiness or your wayward humanity? Are the people against you men and women of great character and virtue? Are you hated because of the best of your humanity or the worst of your humanity? 

 

“Love your enemies.” Another beautiful but difficult teaching. Desire good for others. The more you desire good for other people, the more those good things will come into focus in your own life. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

 

 

Come to the Quiet

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

 

Are you living a life of focused intention or a life of distraction? We live in a world full of distractions. Is your life less busy and distracting or busier and more distracting than it was a year ago, or five years ago? Take your bearings. Is your life moving in the right direction?

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For two thousand years, the world has become increasingly noisy, busy, distracting, but Jesus’ invitation is unchanged: Come to the quiet. 

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

 

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” It is from Mark’s Gospel, chapter 6, verse 31.

 

There are many times when Jesus went away to a quiet place to pray, and times when he invited the disciples to come to a quiet place. But this is different. Jesus invites the disciples to come away to a quiet place just to rest. 

 

There is so much in this single verse. The first thing that strikes me as we move beyond the surface of the words themselves is the practical care and concern Jesus had for his disciples. He was the one doing all the heavy lifting, but his concern was for them. And now his concern is for you. 

 

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

 

This single verse contains five directives. Let’s take a look at each of them and explore why we find them difficult.  

 

The first directive is “Come.” Jesus is calling us away from whatever it is we are busy with. It can be hard to step away from whatever it is we are doing. This is especially true when we are stepping away from doing something we consider productive to simply be. 

 

The second directive is “with me.” The presence of Jesus is transformative. His mere presence is an examination of conscience. His presence is a force so great that we are compelled to assess our lives. His presence shines light on all the ways we are not aligned with Him. This can be uncomfortable until we realize that he wants to renew, restore, and refresh us. 

 

The third directive is “by yourselves.” Stepping away from the crowd is essential to communing with God. The irony is we fear we may miss out on something while we are communing with the Creator of the universe. That fear of missing out often leads us to miss out on everything that matters most. 

 

The fourth directive is “to a quiet place.” We are so unaccustomed to the quiet that it makes us uneasy at first. Our restless souls are unaccustomed to settling into the quiet and simply being. But the journey is long and difficult, and Jesus knows that without respite our ability to live and love fully will be diminished. 
 

The fifth and final directive in this verse is “and get some rest.” Jesus invites us to this sacred quiet because it refreshes the soul, and from this quiet emerges the clarity necessary to continue the journey. Without rest as disciples, we lose our joy, and then our service to others languishes as we become irritable and resentful.

 

When was the last time you felt calm, peaceful, tranquil, and at ease? But more importantly, how long are you going to put off the next time?

 

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” It’s a difficult teaching to live, but a beautiful teaching that reveals all God’s care and concern for you. Will you let Him care for you in all the ways He desires to? 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

 

And if you liked the video, you’ll love the book! Click here to order.

 

 

The Narrow Way

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

 

The easier we try to make life the harder it gets. There are plenty of charlatans ready to promise an easy way for each and every aspect of our lives, and plenty of fools willing to follow. Let’s not be among them. 

 

The Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, concluded his work The Ethics with this line: All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare. 

 

Why is excellence so rare in any arena? Because it is difficult. If it were easy, it would be common. Why then would we expect the aspect of life that is supremely important to be any different? The inner life is difficult, but the joy that comes from throwing ourselves into this quest has no limits. 

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

 

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

 

This is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 7, verses 13-14.

 

Our lazy human nature is ever seeking the easy way, the path of least resistance, the most pleasurable or convenient option. But are we ever better for it? 

 

The wide road lays before us the seduction of pleasure, but pleasure always gives less than it promises, and is completely incapable of delivering what we truly desire, which is fullness of life.

 

Jesus is clear. The wide path is easy and leads to destruction. The narrow way is difficult and leads to life. We find ourselves at the crossroads, this fork in the road, dozens of times every day. The narrow path to one side and the wide path to the other, the easy way to one side and the difficult way to the other. Which will you choose today? 

 

There are no signposts except those in our hearts. One reads life and other says destruction. The choice is yours, and mine, and it is a choice we are constantly making. Are you choosing life or destruction? 

 

If we cannot find or justify easy and convenient, we next look for excuses and exceptions. I can’t find one. I cannot think of a single area of life where the easy road leads to success. Personal finances, health and wellness, career, study and scholarship, dating and marriage, parenting, all require the discipline and effort of the narrow way. The wide road leads to destruction in every area of life. The discipline of the narrow way is indispensable. 

 

The illusion we subscribe to is that the narrow way and the wide road both lead to the same destination. They don’t. 

 

“Enter by the narrow gate.” It’s a difficult teaching, but like all of these difficult teachings we are exploring together, it does unlock the secret to the deepest desires of our hearts. 

 

What we have discovered here is that he narrow way isn’t an actual path, it is a way of walking any path. The discipline that defines the narrow way is a necessary condition of anything worthwhile as a human being. Look for the narrow way in all things. It may be heart-wrenchingly difficult at times, but it will always deliver on its promise. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

 

 

Humble Yourself

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings. 

 

The battle between humility and pride is central to the spiritual life. Pride contaminates anything that is good, destroys relationships, and blinds us to what is good, true, right, and just. It is the source of all moral evil. But what is humility, why does it matter, and how do we grow in this essential virtue? 

 

C. S. Lewis observed, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, its thinking of yourself less.”

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

 

“Every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

This is from Luke’s Gospel, chapter 14, verse 11.

 

Now, wanting to be exulted could be in and of itself driven by pride, but there is another definition of exalted. Exalted in this sense of a state of extreme happiness.

 

Humility is essential to spiritual flourishing, and yet, it seems to be more misunderstood than understood. Humility is highly desirable, and yet, it has been shunned by the modern world for the most part.

 

We live in a world dominated by pretending, and pretending is exhausting. So, there is no point trading one type of pretending for another. And this is often what happens in our first attempts to grow in the virtue of humility. 

 

Humility is truth. It is false to devalue yourself or your talents. That isn’t humility. Humility is acknowledging the source of your talents. God is the giver of all gifts, the origin of all our talents and abilities, and the source of all goodness and every blessing. You can have exceptional abilities and be humble, you can be an exceptional human being and possess deep humility.

 

Humility isn’t about pretending to be small and fragile. The humblest people I know have a very powerful presence. They have a very strong sense of self. They also tend to have a beautiful awareness of reality. 

 

Humility is also sometimes thought of as weak, but nothing could be further from the truth. Humility is tender and meek, and yet it possesses extraordinary strength, because in it we realize the unquenchable source of our strength. Our strength is in the Lord, as the Psalm says (Psalm 46). 

 

Our desire for humility grows the more we understand what it actually is, and how it differs from pride. 

 

Prideful arrogance is repugnant. Humility is also supremely attractive. 

 

Pride wrestles with the whole universe, trying to get everyone and everything to conform to our will. Humility surrenders gently to God. 

 

Pride is impertinent, disrespectful, and rude. Humility is well mannered and respectful. 

 

Pride thinks only of self and now. Humility thinks of everyone and everything, forever.

 

Scratch just beneath the surface and you will discover that pride is small, mean, and scared. Humility is all-encompassing, generous, and trusting.

 

Pride is restless. Humility is peaceful and at ease. 

 

Jesus invites us to a life of humility because he is supremely interested in our happiness. Through each of these difficult teachings Jesus desires to lead us to a level of fulfillment that far exceeds our wildest imaginings. But the journey to that place of immense fulfillment requires that we let him lead and that we attentively follow.

 

And here we may have stumbled upon the most important and practical aspect of humility. Only a humble soul can be led. It takes real humility to quiet our desires, and all the distractions of the world, and listen to the voice of the Spirit. And it takes humility to follow wherever that voice leads. 

 

Teresa of Avila proposed that a little humility is more valuable than all the knowledge in the world. These difficult teachings seek to rearrange our values and priorities, and turn our lives upside down, which as it turns out will be right side up. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a consumer, be a disciple. Change a life today by sharing this video with someone else!

 

And if you liked the video, you’ll love the book! Click here to order.

 

 

Do Not Be Afraid

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings.

 

The most dominant emotion in our modern society is fear. We are afraid of rejection and failure, afraid of losing the things we have worked hard to buy, afraid of criticism, afraid of certain parts of town, afraid of certain types of people, afraid of suffering and heartache, afraid of change, afraid to tell people how we really feel… 

 

Fear has a tendency to imprison us. Fear paralyzes the human spirit. What do you fear? 

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

 

“Do not be afraid.” 

 

This is from Luke’s Gospel, chapter 12, verse 32. But it is also the phrase Jesus used more than any other phrase, and the most common saying in the entire Bible. Between the New and the Old Testament, the phrase appears more than one thousand times. 

 

What’s the opposite of fear? The opposite of fear is confidence. In this context the source of that confidence would be trust. Trust in God. 

 

The antidote for fear is trust. On our money it says, “In God We Trust.” But do we? And if we don’t trust God, in whom are we placing our trust? This is a very important question, because let me tell you, if we don’t trust God, we have very good reason to be anxious, afraid, stressed, and all out petrified. 

 

This is why our culture is so riddled with these emotions, because we have abandoned God. The obvious question this leads us to is, if we aren’t placing our trust in Him, in whom are we placing our trust? The answer to this question unveils the scary truth. Ourselves. Think of any crazy analogy and it fits. That’s like entrusting your five-year-old to drive your newborn child to the supermarket to do the grocery shopping. 

 

Over and over, throughout the Gospels, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.” He doesn’t say it to placate people. It’s a bold invitation to place our trust in Him. 

 

None of these difficult teachings are about doing. They are all about being and becoming. That’s why none of them invite us to a single act. Each is an invitation to adopt a new approach to life. Each is an opportunity to develop a new soul trait. These habits of the soul are what lead us to thrive as individuals and make a difference in the world. 

 

There are two ways I have found fruitful to develop trust and confidence in God. The first is simply to ask for it. Ask God to increase your trust and confidence in Him. The second is to look back on your life and identify times when God was at work in your life. You didn’t know it at the time, but it is clear to you now. Meditate on how He worked in your life at those times. By recognizing the times when God has worked powerfully in our lives in the past, we find the strength to hope and trust that He will work in our lives in the future… and that he is working in our lives right now. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

 

 

The Paradoxical Path

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings.

 

If you were looking to fill your life with goodness and happiness, with fulfillment and satisfaction, with all the finest blessings available to humanity, where would you start?

 

The world and our humanity often lead us astray in this quest, and the teachings of Jesus present a stark contrast to the path the world prescribes. 

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will have their fill.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for their righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

This reading is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 5, verses 3-10. These eight blessings are known as the Beatitudes and were presented as part of the Sermon on the Mount. 

 

Everywhere you turn in the Gospel’s you find paradoxes, and that is certainly true here in the Beatitudes. What is a paradox? Something that seems untrue or absurd that upon investigation you discover to be true. Why does Jesus use so many paradoxes? I don’t know. But I do know this. Jesus is himself the ultimate paradox. He is the God-Man, and that is the paradox of all paradoxes. 

 

We could spend the rest of our lives studying these verses. They provide an endless spring of wisdom to explore. So, where do we start. 

 

I think the paradoxes serve to capture our attention, to help us to realize the magnitude of the summons that Jesus is placing upon our lives. 

 

This is the uncomfortable and often unspoken truth. The path Jesus is inviting us to walk through these difficult teachings is not a slight variation of the path the world is offering or even the path we are on. His path is radically different. 

 

The magnitude of his invitation forces us to make a decision. In the Beatitudes Jesus lays out a path that is counter-intuitive and counter-cultural and clearly labels it the path of the Blessed. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a consumer, be a disciple. Change a life today by sharing this video with someone else!

 

 

You Will Be Persecuted

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings.

 

Think about all the groups and clubs and teams that have tried to entice you to join throughout your life. How do they do it? They tell you about all the benefits, how it will help you, how much fun you will have, and generally try to make it overwhelmingly appealing. And if it is at all possible that something might go wrong or not be so pleasant, they bury it in print so small and voluminous that nobody reads it until it’s too late. 

 

Jesus doesn’t do that. He is not interested in manipulating or coercing people to follow Him. And unlike anyone else he is brutally honest about the fact that you will suffer and the various forms this suffering will take. 

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and utter all kinds of calumnies against you for my sake.” 

This is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 5, verses 10-11.

 

Jesus isn’t saying, “Listen, if you decide to make this journey with me there is a slight chance that you will get persecuted.” Here and in other places in the Gospels, He promises His people persecution. He isn’t saying, “You might be persecuted.” He is saying, “You will be persecuted.” 

 

There is however a key word in this verse. Righteousness. We don’t talk about righteousness anymore. People used to say things like, “He was a good and righteous man.” But not anymore. If we take a look at the definition, we gain insight as to why this word has all but disappeared from the modern vocabulary. The definition of righteousness is, “The quality of being morally right.” We don’t hear much about righteousness anymore because nobody wants to talk about morality, because talking about morality requires that some behaviors be deemed right and others wrong. And today’s culture is allergic to such clarity. 

 

So, when we are persecuted, and we all are at times, it’s important to differentiate between two types of persecution. There is the persecution that has nothing to do with your faith and the fact that you are striving to be a disciple of Jesus, and the persecution leveled at you because you are awakening something in others by your words or actions that they would rather be left to sleep. Don’t confuse being persecuted for your own shortcomings with being persecuted for the striving to love and share the Gospel. 

 

“Blessed are those who are persecuted.” This being the case it is also important not to intentionally avoid persecution in a way that causes you to abandon Jesus and His way. 

 

Life is difficult. Following Jesus is difficult. We only make it harder for ourselves when we try to make it easy. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

 

And if you liked the video, you’ll love the book! Click here to order.

 

 

Follow Me

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings.

 

Two of the key designations that Jesus assigns to his disciples are follower and servant. In this world obsessed with position, power, and status, it is easy to see how these roles that are essential to discipleship get overlooked. 

 

Our obsession with leadership is particularly fascinating. People are told from childhood, be a leader, be a leader, be a leader. And now we have a world where everyone wants to lead, and nobody wants to follow. Yet, despite all the focus we have placed on developing leaders, the world is experiencing a devastating poverty of leadership. 

 

The reason is astoundingly simple. It is impossible to be a great leader if you do not first learn to follow. There is no greater preparation for leadership than to be a committed follower. 

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

 

“Come, follow me.”

 

This is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 4, verse 19. 

 

“Come, follow me.” When you hear these words, where does your mind go? What do these words stir in your soul? Do they arouse caution, excitement, fear, or is it something else? 

 

What if someone called you up this afternoon and said, “I got you front row tickets and backstage passes to see your favorite band.” How would you feel? Imagine you won tickets to the Superbowl. How would you feel? 

 

When Jesus says, “Come, follow me” it is the most amazing invitation in the history of the world. Why aren’t we more excited? He is inviting you and me to join him on the adventure of a lifetime that goes everywhere worth going to do everything worth doing. But we keep putting him off. Or we say that we will go, and then change our minds. Or we try to customize the itinerary, picking and choosing what we think will be interesting and enjoyable. 

 

Are you following Jesus? If not, why not? And if you’re not following Jesus, who are you following? When I wander off the scary answer is I am following myself. But the scary, scary answer is nobody. Sometimes I wander off and I am just wandering aimlessly in this modern desert.

 

From time to time, we all need to renew our commitment to following Jesus. Perhaps today is that day. Maybe we just need to sit in the classroom of silence and say yes again to following Jesus. 

 

And if you want to try to follow Jesus like never before, I have only one piece of advice: Stay close. 

 

Several years ago, I visited Istanbul to give a speech, and while I was there, I visited the Grand Bizarre. The word bizarre means “covered market.” The Grand Bizarre is one of the largest and oldest in the world. It is comprised of more than 4,000 stores, sixty-one streets, spans 333,000 square feet, and is visited by more than 250,000 people every day. 

 

This provides an analogy for this life and following Jesus. The life of a disciple is like a person who meets Jesus outside the entrance of the Grand Bizarre. Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” The person chooses to follow Jesus, and Jesus proceeds to make his way through the Grand Bizarre. Along the way he stops to talk to people and comfort people, heal people and feed people. But along the way there are a million distractions. 

 

It is intense and insane, a sea of humanity bewitched by a thousand trinkets, all the time completely unaware that the treasure they seek is walking among them. 

 

The follower is easily mesmerized by shiny things, and then looks up to discover that Jesus is gone. The follower searches frantically to find Jesus, but again gets distracted, and again, and again. 

 

Jesus doesn’t do this as a game of any type. It is a serious endeavor. He is intensely interested in people. He wants to lead his followers deep into people’s lives, so we can serve others as powerfully as possible. 

 

It doesn’t matter so much how many times the follower gets lost or distracted. What matters is how many times he returns to following Jesus with renewed commitment in his heart. 

 

When Jesus exists the other side of the bizarre the follower’s life is over, and Jesus looks over and says, “Well done, my good and faithful disciple.” 

 

The Grand Bizarre is a microcosm of the whole world and your whole life. Following Jesus is like walking through the Grand Bizarre. 

 

Stay close. If we don’t follow closely, we don’t have a chance.

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a spectator, be a participant, add a comment below and join the conversation.

 

 

Pluck Out Your Eye

 

Welcome to Difficult Teachings.

 

I met a man a couple of years ago who lost a leg in an accident, and he introduced me to a friend he had met at rehab who had lost an arm. It is a horrible thing to lose a limb. Their lives are forever changed. But I was having coffee with them one day and one of the guys said, “Do I wish I had my arm? Sure. But life is more important than a limb. That accident could have killed me. An inch to the left or an inch to the right, and I could have been dead. And every time I am with my wife and children, I remember that, and I am grateful.” 

 

Both men have amazing prosthetic limbs, but I wonder what that’s like, and then my mind gets to thinking about times past when there was nothing like that. They have prosthetics for everything today. It’s amazing. Life changing and remarkable for people who have tragic life-altering accidents. 

 

Something jolted me back to the conversation with the guys in the coffee shop. I had been daydreaming for a minute. Then something else in the coffee shop caught my attention. Two tables over, a man was speaking to his girlfriend in a way and with language that was so foul and dehumanizing that at first, I could not believe it was happening. Just as the realization of what was happening dawned on me the man stood up and stormed out, leaving the women sitting there sobbing. 

 

One of the men I was with, the man with the prosthetic leg, stood up, grabbed the napkin container, walked over and passed it to the women for her tears. 

 

He may not have a leg, but he has so much that the man who abused his girlfriend doesn’t have. And there is no prosthetic replacement for what that man doesn’t have. There is no prosthetic for an amputated soul. 

 

Today’s difficult teaching is… 

“If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away.” 

This is from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 18, verse 9.

 

The idea of plucking your own eye out is, I suspect, as disgusting to you as it is to me. But look at all the other things we do that hurt us and make us less than who we are capable of being. Are they little things? Maybe. But at what point do lots of little things end up being massively self-destructive. 

 

There is something in your life that is creating an obstacle between you and God, an obstacle between you and the-best-version-of-yourself, an obstacle to you loving other people deeply. You don’t need me to tell you what it is, you either know or with a little soul-searching will discover it. Pluck it out of your life and throw it away from you. 

 

All new beginnings, all fresh starts, require a bold leap. 

 

Have a great day… and remember, don’t just be a consumer, be a disciple. Change a life today by sharing this video with someone else!

 

And if you liked the video, you’ll love the book! Click here to order.

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