God's Goals for Us
Let's think about some of the ways success is measured today - money, education, personal attributes, physical beauty or strength, intellectual prowess, career, family, material possessions, notoriety. Looking at that list could make you feel depressed. I suspect that most of us don't feel that we measure up in very many categories. But none of us need to worry too much about these things. For while they may make a difference to people we meet, God remains distinctly unimpressed by them.
It seems that God is interested in character issues far more than the externals. That is because God is eternal and so things that will disappear at the end of our physical lives or at the end of time are not high priorities. What God is interested in is that part of us that will go on into eternity. None of the things mentioned earlier are bad in themselves, the problem arises when with our attitudes are not aligned with God's. When we start to see these things as ends in themselves we get out of balance. It's not about how much money we amass over a lifetime, what God is interested in is how we use the money we have be it little or much.
God is not dazzled by strings of degrees after our names. He will not reward us for those. What He is looking for is how we used the wisdom and knowledge we attained to help others. The instant we step into eternity, we'll know more than we could have ever imagined. The Bible talks about "knowing as we are known" God will give us new bodies suited to eternity so the physical strength and loveliness we developed and prized in this life will go by the wayside. What will make a difference in eternity is whether we invested our physical attributes for the Kingdom of God or wasted our energy on ourselves.
There are a couple of passages in James which are worth considering. In chapter two, he talks about the danger of partiality. This is a natural human response to others in which we evaluate them and position them above or below us socially. James 2:1 "My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool," 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonoured the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself," you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors." This passage leads us to understand that, unnatural as it may be, God wants us to adopt heavenly values in our own lives and in our relationships.
In the next chapter of his letter, James wrote more on the subject. James 3:13 "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."
When God looks for growth and development in his children He doesn't care about wealth and influence, strength or beauty, social status or material possessions. Godly character is recognized by purity, peaceableness, gentleness, a willingness to yield, the expression of mercy, and the producing of good spiritual fruit. Then James reminds us of two things all of those are to be present or exercised without partiality, that is without favouring those who can give us some advantage, and without hypocrisy, that is without faking it being merely politically correct, as it were, while hiding our true feelings and motives.
There is a fairly familiar passage written by the apostle Paul where he tells his Christian friends in Corinth that "not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.'" (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
This is a bit hard for us proud humans to handle. We like to think that we are self-made that we are in control that everything we have is because or our effort or influence or merit. The fact is that our existence is totally outside the realm of our control. Everything we have is a gift. God loves to shower us with gifts, but He doesn't want them taken for granted, nor does He want us to think of them as being intrinsically ours. He wants us to see them as coming from Him. That's at least part of the reason that He chooses the weak ones of this world. They know they have nothing to offer in and of themselves. They glorify God when He works in their lives.
Paul wrote about this as well in his second letter to the Corinthians. Nobody is sure of what his affliction was, but Paul was experiencing some kind of problem. It's probably best we don't what it was so that we can all identify with Paul in his trouble. In 2 Corinthians 12 he wrote: "Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Even Paul, with all of the advantages that he had, learned that God did not value his human strength as much as He did Paul's availability to display God's glory in his human weakness. God is much less interested in your human accomplishments than you might think. What He really wants is for you to be willing to let Him work in the context of your weakness. That's why He chooses to bring us into relationship with Himself by faith rather than by human effort.
Since God has done all the work, He is glorified when we trust Him to save us. His kindness and generosity and graciousness are displayed rather than anything about us.
Today we've thought about what God is looking for in the life of His children. We've seen that big bank accounts, professional status, material comfort, good health, and happy families may be part of the picture, but they are not the main feature. God is looking for righteousness - quality character in his children. He is looking for virtue, integrity, and commitment above all to Himself. To get started on the way to being all that God wants you to be, accept His offer of salvation through faith today for now is the day of Salvation.
Ron Hughes
© February 2007
