Falling Victim
Is it easier to be bad or to be good?
Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. - 2 Peter 1:4-7
Sometimes I think it is in our nature to do the wrong things, that it takes hard work to do the right things.
We have faith, yes, but that faith needs support or we will find ourselves falling into the traps that are all around us.
I used to think all it would take is one lucky break, to be given a chance, and circumstances can change. Someone who is down and out can, with only a little help, make it, become self-sufficient, become whole.
But time after time, I see that a break is not enough. A lot more is needed to turn the ship around when it has been traveling in the wrong direction for so long.
As Peter points out in his letter, there are no simple fixes. It takes work to stay in the faith, to live in the hope and become whole.
Most important, I think, is the need for mutual affection and love.
We all need to want the person with problems to succeed. We all have to play a part in supporting the one who wants to overcome the devastating effects of corruption and abuse.
Lately, we are hearing of people who have accomplished a great deal in their lives, achieved high levels of status and acclaim, and reaped the rewards of their accomplishments, only to lose the respect and love of their followers due to their own behavior.
It shows us that there is more to life than amassing a fortune.
We can become victims of our own abuses, and though we have gained the world, we have lost our soul.
So, the message for today is to help ourselves and each hold onto our souls, to keep from falling victim to corruption and despair. We need to know we are loved and to be loving in return, and we need to make every effort to support our faith every way we can.
More to come...