October 07, 2010
Comfortable
During a conversation on lacking self-confidence one man observed, “I became comfortable with being uncomfortable.” I can see that same mind-set translating into the spiritual realm of the believer. We often become so comfortable with a particular sin that we don’t feel the sting of conviction. “Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.”(Proverbs 28:14 NIV)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Sin, confession, repentance, forgiveness is a cleaning cycle which must complete before it is effective. It is initiated by completing the assessment cycle of fear, reflection, response. The goal of the assessment cycle is to replace the perception of fear with comfort of assurance. The reflection process is often what gets skipped, or at least nominally engaged, such that fear becomes covered by comfort instead of replaced. It isn’t so much that fear is no longer felt, even though it is no longer consciously perceived. It is more that the feeling of it becomes hidden away in the sub-conscious after the conscious mind has reasoned up some validation of the sin or mistake’s appropriateness. That no more leads to a mental resolution than reasoning leads to reflection, because the sub-conscious is not wholly subject to conscious manipulation. So, the double-mind begins where the sub-conscious perceives fear and the consciousness simply translates it into comfort. The cleaning cycle is never consciously called into process, and an area of malformation begins to grow in the sub-conscious which will serve to both perpetuate the double-mind and relieve the consciousness from the process of translating fear into comfort. Although the proper perception of fear will remain in the sub-conscious, by receiving inappropriate conscious attention its growth will not keep up with that of its rival, and it will soon choke down like a daisy in the weeds.
-----Now, I don’t mean to make light of or to diminish the role of the Holy Spirit. He plays within us in more ways we can not understand than in ways we can. But one way He plays in this process I do understand. He is the Spirit of truth. To humble ourselves to His leading is to humble ourselves to a quest for truth. And that is not just a mental quest for true knowledge. It is a quest for being true in knowledge, feeling, and action. Since reason is not reflection, truth will not allow it to dominate that part of the assessment cycle. Certainly it is a part of reflection, but reflection’s significance is in its rooting deep into the self, the situation, and the Word of God for true nutrients to feed the reasoning process. Then when reflection has found fear to be the real consequence of a particular sin, the true cleaning cycle will become the chosen response. At the time it has achieved forgiveness from God and attempted to achieve it from the characters damaged by the particular sin, comfort will settle into both the sub-conscious and the consciousness. Moreover, and maybe even more importantly, both will have similarity, because the leading of the Holy Spirit has been followed into truth. Consequently, the effect of the conscious mind upon the sub-conscious will no longer generate or perpetuate a double-mind, but instead will focus a single mind towards what is true and right and good. True comfort will follow. And it will be truly from God.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Post a Comment