Saturday, December 11, 2010

Guilt or Conviction?

I never planned on moving “home” after college, but somehow God has me in the same place I grew up. The extra time here has allowed me to further understand the culture in which I was raised. And one unavoidable piece of this culture is the use of “guilt”. I could write volumes and volumes about the sources, uses and responses to guilt…I’ll spare us all.

But recently I’ve been curious about the difference between guilt and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

As a matter of chat…

Are they the same? Are we calling it guilt but it’s really God prompting us? Are we doing things out of guilt, but calling it God? Are they completely different? Is it a sometimes one way and sometimes another? What/Who is motivating our actions?

People Watching (Part 2)

It took me a LONG time to realize that there are no perfect people in the world. I guess I never really thought about it, but when the reality of it sank in for me, I was a bit depressed. Who would I pattern my life after?! I mean “Jesus” is the obvious answer, but who would I people-watch to learn how to follow Him?

I’ve found that I watch different people for different things. When it comes to wanting to learn how to be a good leader there is a particular short-list of people I watch. When it comes to being a good husband, there’s another handful. When it comes to being a good co-worker and socially in-check, another. A good friend. A good neighbor. A good listener. The list goes on.

The point is that I watch people to learn from them. I recognize their imperfections but also their value and strengths. It’s part of what I call “proactive teachability” – not just being willing to learn and grow, but actively seeking ways to do so.

As a matter of chat…

Do I watch the right people? How do I know? Are there people I’m looking over that I could be learning a lot from? Who is watching me? What are they learning? Would I be happy if the copied my life?