Day Seven: Choose What is Good over What is Easy
The Lord's Presence in Our Spiritual Work
Often we learn as children to mask our thoughts and feelings in order to protect ourselves from judgments by other people. We are afraid of being seen as foolish, aggressive, wimpy, over-emotional, inarticulate - just to name a few. To fit in, avoid hurt, and get approval, we learn to pretend. The Lord warns us in Matthew 6: 5-8 of the Sermon on the Mount, against pretending to be something we are not. He tells us not to do good or say prayers just to impress others. A lot of people give similar advice — just be yourself, and don't change who you are to please others. Not only does the Lord want us to "be ourselves," he also wants us to apply the trait of being genuine to our spiritual life as well.
Spiritually, each of us has a higher self and a lower self — or a new self and an old self. The old self that we have from birth holds any family dysfunctions and child hood wounds and wants to preserve our innate selfishness. The new self grows from the seeds of childhood innocence and trust, maturing in the ideals and convictions of young adulthood to produce a life of integrity and genuine concern for others.
Rising up to the higher self is like climbing a mountain. It takes energy and initiative, and we may need to push ourselves beyond our comfort zone to make it to the top. Staying at the bottom can be easy — no effort or conviction is required. And it is very common to be drawn down to our lower self by purely physical pleasures.
In order to choose the higher self, we must compel ourselves to rise above the compulsive nature of the lower self. In this life the pleasures of the body are more tangible than the subtle joys of the spirit, so it is easy to be distracted by them. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41 NKJV™).
In order to make the best choices, we will very often need to choose actions that seem less enticing. We may have to force ourselves to say, "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I was wrong." We may have to be quiet and listen to another person even though we are bursting with our own thoughts. We may be required to stand firmly by our principles even though we are sorely tempted to ignore our conscience in order to be popular with others.
The Lord promises that we will find subtle inner joy in doing good and following our principles. And if we will only make a beginning, He will help us along the way to experience a greater awareness of the joys of the 'higher self '. While subtle, this delight has spiritual qualities that cannot be matched by worldly pleasure because this delight derives its nature from the Lord Himself.
"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matt. 11:29-30 NKJV™)
Challenge: What are three simple ways you can add greater integrity to your life?