Meditations

Posted by: thaishin | September 26, 2008

About the nature of man

What are your beliefs about the nature of man? Do you believe that some men are inherently good?

Some wealthy men are philanthropist, some men are involved in fighting world poverty, some men volunteer in social work, some women are good mothers, some people are excellent in upbringing and character and are good models for their society. Aren’t these people good?

I bet you will say that these people are excellent human beings. You contrast their goodness with the bad members of our society and say they have not committed any crimes and have contributed to society and should be good people. Yes, they are good people relatively but they are also sinful men absolutely.

I have encountered 2 acquaintances, non christians, who admitted that man is sinful. I would think that they came to that conclusion after observing themselves and others around them. They don’t know Jesus, probably have not read the bible in detail, but came to the same conclusion as the bible.

The fact: Romans 3:23

23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

There is no one righteous according to the bible, including yourself and myself and this is measured against God’s standard.

So the question is what is so bad about the people that I have mentioned? Are these people so bad that they are considered sinful? By God’s standard, yes. And we need an absolute measure if we want to the get the truth of human nature. God is holy and His presence is too much for us because of our sinfulness. The absolute standard brings out the absolute truth, man is sinful.

Some people reject the truth of men’s sinfulness because they are too proud of themselves or they are too comfortable in life to enable the truth to rock them or they just want to indulge in and continue in their sinful ways.

I will dare say that knowing this fact will help you in the following ways:

1) It enables you to understand the true absolute nature of men – fallen and sinful

2) It will help you to have a better world view

3) It humbles you

4) You will have better insight to yourself

5) It helps you in dealing with other people

6) It is the first step to gaining wisdom

So what is next after knowing man is sinful? What do you do with sin in others and sin in yourself? I encourage you to read the bible to find out more.

Self Esteem

When I was a non believer, I had a low self esteem. I was always complaining, whether it was about my studies or about my circumstances. Then I had no knowledge of God and I did not know who I was. I was not a man of understanding. As I was a student, all I wanted to do was to pass the university exams, so I was very studious and studied for nights and days without end. The studies were consuming me. But thank God for my studiousness, I passed my exams. But I still did not feel good about myself. Even when I got second class honours for my efforts, I still felt inferior. No matter what I do, I did not feel good about myself. No matter what self improvement books I read, I could not feel good about myself.

Until the time when I went through the process of maturing in christ and reading the bible for myself, until I came to know about God and the knowledge of self, I could eventually hold out on ‘my own’. Fear is replaced by hope, uncertainty is replaced by security, poor self-esteem is replaced by assurance of my situation. Eventually, it’s knowing God/Jesus and knowing myself. It’s knowing where will I eventually go when I pass away from this earth. (John 14:3). It’s knowing that God is in control of my circumstances regardless of how bad it is (Romans 8:28) . It’s knowing that God loves me regardless of how inferior I feel (John 3:16) . It’s knowing that God/Jesus is my savour and I have eternal life (1 John 5:11-12). It’s knowing that I have understanding through reading the word of God (Job 32:8). It’s knowing that I am a sinner by nature (Romans 3:23). It’s knowing that nothing I do/achieve makes me who I am (Ephesians 2:8-9). It’s knowing that I am a quiet person and God made me that way (Psalms 139:13). It’s knowing that there is no need to fear of anything if death has lost it’s sting (Heb 2:14) . It’s knowing that it’s God who made the heavens and the earth and how great He is and how small I am (Psalms 19:1). It’s knowing that God does not look at appearances but is interested in my heart (1 Sam 16:7). Thank you God/Jesus for making me who I am today.

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Jesus, Self, Self Esteem, Self help

Posted by: thaishin | August 8, 2008

Discipline for a toddler

Recounting the moments when my son (2 years 10 months old) was misbehaving:

1) Refusing to put on his clothes after his bath

2) Refusing to change clothes/putting on his shoes when we are about to go out and we have to catch a bus

3) Tumbling the chair over

4) Throwing my watch onto the floor

5) Making a mess of the clothes after we have folded them and about to put them into our closet

6) Pouring milk onto the floor and playing with the spilt milk

7) Pushing and shoving the curtains in the living room. Now, a few of the curtain flaps cannot be turned

8 ) Refusing to brush his teeth

9) Unrolling the toilet paper from its holder

10) Pushing the plastic container which he could sit in around the house. And he will be pushing the container fast, hammering the flooring edge at the fringe of the living room going to the kitchen.

Everytime he misbehaved, I would threaten to punish him. I would give him a warning before punishing him. When he was younger he tested me by repeating his behaviour after my threat and I punished him Now, he knows I mean business when I threaten to punish him. I believed it helped in changing his behaviour even though sometimes it is only temporary. However, I do think generally he is better behaved nowadays, though he still need to be threatened once in a while.

Reasoning with them does not work at this age. Punishment is the best. Then he will know the consequence of misbehaving.

Wisdom from Proverbs 22:15:

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. (niv)

Proverbs 23:13:

Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. (niv)

6 Comments

Posted in Parenting | Tags: discipline, Parenting, Sin, toddler

Posted by: thaishin | July 17, 2008

Loneliness

Loneliness is a human condition and any individual will experience that feeling at one time or another. It is probably experienced when you are alone or it may be experienced even when you are in a crowd or even when you have company. Perhaps you are single and most of your friends are already married and have families and spend most of the time with their families. Perhaps you are different from your companionship and feel that you do not fit in. Perhaps you are married but your spouse do not understand you and not able to put his/her foot in your shoes. Perhaps you are a homemaker with much time to spare and looking after young children. Perhaps your spouse just passed away. Perhaps your children have all grown up and have their own lives. What do you do with your time aplenty or with your companions indifferent or lack of companionship.

The circumstances may vary but the condition and feeling is the same. Some may prescribe a cure to it. Try drugs and you will feel a high. Or the advice may be less harmful like pick up a hobby and occupy your time. Or more beneficial like find your passion and you will find fulfilment. Or find a husband/wife and set up a family. Or spend more time in developing your career. Ultimately, it is not just to occupy your time but engage your thoughts and energy as well.

Any answers from the bible? Let’s take a look at some passages.

Psalms 25:16

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted (NIV)

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. (KJV)

The psalmist ask God to turn to him and be gracious to him in his prayer. Yes, he prayed to God. God is omnipresent, meaning he is everywhere. This means you can pray to God anywhere, anytime and He will still hear you. But you will hear silence after your prayer, yes you will. But God answers our prayer if we ask Him (John 16:24). He may allow certain things to happen in answer to your prayer. But for that to happen, you will have to believe Him, specifically you have to ask through Jesus. And you have to ask with the right motive in the first place.

Psalms 68:6

God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land (niv)

God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land (kjv)

Yes God will find a family for you when you are lonely. When you believe, you will be born again and will born into the family of God. All fellow believers are your family members, your brothers and sisters in christ. I am sure if a person is a true believer, he will extend his hospitality to a new believer.

Psalm 34:22

The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate (KJV)

The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him (NIV)

I like the kjv version here. It says those who trust in him shall not be desolate. As long as we trust to put ourselves into the charge of God, we will not feel lonely or abandoned. Usually the feeling of loneliness comes with other feelings like hopelessness or insecurity, rest assured that we will find hope and security if we believe in Jesus/God and trust in him. Security because everything works out for the good of the believer, even adverse circumstances, hence there will be no fear in us. After all, if we no longer fear death, what can harm us. Hope because Jesus is now on the right hand side of God and we know we serve a living God who conquered death, hence we live each day looking toward the day Jesus will come again.

Ultimately, however, we should be looking to Jesus to fulfill the emptiness within us so that we will not thirst again. (John 7:38 – Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from him – niv)

So we see that loneliness can be alleviated if we believe and accept Jesus into our lives. In Him, we have security, direction and purpose. And spirituality engages our thoughts and energy. For all times, we can be alone and not lonely.

So start believing and start reading the bible where God’s gold and silver are and strive for things that are eternal instead of looking at temporal things!

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Human condition, Jesus, Life, Loneliness, Passion