Galatians 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

We’re still on the same theme as yesterday, with a little more explanation and enlargement. Now Paul is talking about how he relates to society around him, and he is certainly worthy of emulation. Different societies treat boasting differently, with some, like Japan, frowning on it completely, while America seems to take it for granted, or even find it admirable. Donald Trump is certainly a case in point there! Politicians in general see a need to list their accomplishments, but a lot of people find that very off-putting. What Paul is saying is that the only thing worth bragging about is that Jesus loved you enough to die for you – but that is actually true for every human being. Our accomplishments don’t affect our value, which is a very hard thing for us to grasp. That said, there is a wide variability in how useful we are to our Creator, which is a slightly different kind of value. We can’t make God love us more, but we can certainly make Him enjoy us more! It is when we realize that, when we are in Christ by faith His death was our death to the world and the world’s death to us, we can cling to Christ alone and really live with His resurrection life. That is a truth that we can hear with our ears and even understand in our heads, but it has to be worked out in our hearts to really be operative. Our time on this earth is a practicum for us to be able to grasp this. I don’t think anyone ever gets it perfectly, but the further we progress the more peace and joy we have.

For the past several months, at least, I have been increasingly impressed by the grace of God toward me. I haven’t earned any of the good stuff I see all around me, and I still get hung up on little irritations. I still have plenty of room to grow! However, I’m a long way from where I once was, and I’m deeply grateful. I see indications all around me that God is doing marvelous things that we can only imagine at this point, and I’m looking forward to their being revealed. I have no idea how I might be included in those things, but I want to be fully available and yielded to Him, whatever He wants to do with me. At the moment medical issues are a little bit of a distraction, but that’s only from my side, and they are no problem for Him. I need to remember that I’m already dead, so big deal!

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s a bit hard to categorize, but I think I hear what You’re saying. Help me indeed live out what You say to me, not deceiving myself, (James 1:22) so that those who see and hear me may be drawn consistently to You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!