All posts tagged C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis on Looking

by brad on May 6, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 6 Comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in (p. 227).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisOne of the most common maladies of human perception can be summarized in the sentence, “We tend to see first what we fear most.” Think about it.

  •     If you fear rejection, what will you hear in most conversations?
  •     If you fear failure, what will you see the strong possibility of in most situations?
  •     If you fear insignificance, how will you see most of your accomplishments?

This is not a call to positive thinking. Pride can be just as distorting as insecurity and often carries much greater consequences. The traces of humility found in insecurity often allow it to be a less destructive distortion.

Instead, this is a call to self-awareness. What are you looking for and how does it affect what you see and what you feel? The influence is inevitable. Either we will become aware of blindness and ask God for eyes to see or we will remain blind to our blindness.

Those who look to or in themselves for hope will realize there is not “enough.” They may then despise themselves (hatred), isolate (loneliness), give up (despair), get angry (rage), make self-destructive choices (ruin), or merely do the best they can (decay). Regardless where they look determines what they see and what they do.

Those who look to Christ for hope will find that there is “more than enough.” Actually these individuals will see the same life challenges that those in the previous paragraph experience. Looking to Christ does not change our circumstances; in the sense of removing obstacles.

However, they will see these challenges not as threats or insults which must be faced alone, but as the next chapters of their growing relationship with Christ. Pain will still hurt. Disappointment will still sting. Loss will still generate grief.

But in each of these moments, those who look to Christ will be freed from looking within themselves for answers to questions that are bigger than they are (a recipe for inevitable failure). They will be able to turn to the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9-22) for perspective and comfort.

Like a child who looks to his/her parent when something unsettling happens; seeking to draw comfort from their experience or demeanor, we can look to God who is not caught off guard and is not threatened to gain comfort and perspective.

When we can face the hard seasons of our life with this confidence, then it allows us to savor the good seasons of our life without fear. We do not have to wait for “the other shoe to drop” or scheme how to freeze this moment in time. We can life like children who trust their parents to care for them. This is what it means to get “everything else thrown in.”

C.S. Lewis on How to Make a Good Impression

by brad on April 29, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 3 Comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it (p. 226).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisSelf-preoccupation may be the world’s most secure prison. How much of our truncated, fearful, bitter, self-destructive, or prejudicial thinking is generated from a fixation on self?

The problem is bigger than unpleasant emotions. The more we focus on our self and what others think of us the less effective we become at whatever we are doing.

  • A comedian focused on what the crowd thinks of him is less funny.
  • An athlete worried about how the media will gauge his performance has weaker instincts.
  • A writer concerned about his critics’ reviews is less creative.
  • A politician concerned about his approval rating loses his convictions.
  • A parent worried about whether their child likes them is less consistent.
  • A counselor worried about what he will say next listens poorly and is less insightful.

The thing we want most (whatever it is) will cost us what we do most naturally (fixate on self). What does it take to obtain the life we all want?

We must find something that:

  1. Draws our attention away from our self.
  2. Can keep our attention for a lifetime.
  3. Moves us towards love rather than power.

There are many things that can accomplish “A.” Every time we are caught up in a moment of awe this objective has been accomplished.

There are very few things on the A-list that can also accomplish “B.” Especially in a day of information overload, we are quickly bored or distracted; or our pleasure fades with age.

However, only the gospel can accomplish “C.” Every other pleasure drives us to control or mastery and turns us in on ourselves or becomes increasingly less relevant as we near death. The sooner and more fully we embrace the gospel the longer and more completely we know life.

C.S. Lewis on “The Real You”

by brad on April 8, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 3 Comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“In that sense our real selves are all waiting for us in Him. It is no good trying to ‘be myself’ without Him. The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. In fact what I so proudly call ‘Myself’ becomes merely the meeting place for trains of events which I never started and which I cannot stop (p. 225).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisWho is “the real you”? Is it the sum total of the good and bad experiences; achievements you’ve made and abuses you’ve faced? Is it the choices you make when nobody’s looking or when all eyes are on you; is realness revealed by isolation or pressure?

Is the real you the first impulse you have in a given situation or that voice of better judgment that echoes afterwards; does my desire or my reason define “me”? Is it your genetic composition or the immaterial voice in your head; does my body or spirit define “me”?

These are hard, make-your-head-hurt questions. Lewis answers the question this way (paraphrased), the real you is the you God made you to be. Further, the real you (ultimate authenticity) can only be realized when you allow God to invade your life.

Until then the assortment of shaping influences in our life make us dance like a kite in the wind instead of catching those influences like the sail of a ship to move with the Captain’s purpose. Until God has His rightful place in my life things about me compete to define me; descriptions strive to become definitions.

Until God has His rightful place pride or shame become the slippery ice on which I assess every action I take, quality I have, and dream I aspire. Everything is either “better than” or “not good enough.” The result is restless comparison that mutates my identity with each change in my circumstance or cements my identity in a way that makes it hard for me to love.

But when God steps in to my strengths and weaknesses, failures and successes, quirks and social norms, then descriptions can remain descriptions. I can have weaknesses without being weak. I can fail without being a failure. I can have strengths and successes without pride.

This is neither self-esteem positive thinking nor everyone-gets-a-trophy merit-less incentivizing. It is redemption living and breathing in our souls. It is the gospel giving definition and purpose to our sin, suffering, and identity.

Strengths are gifts given for a purpose. Successes are satisfying advancements of a kingdom bigger than your own. Weaknesses are opportunities for God to receive glory. Failures are opportunities to humbly demonstrate how the gospel changes guilt and shame.

This frees you to be you without fear – fear of failure or success; fear of rejection or “being found out” after acceptance. The one who knows you best, lives with you most intimately, and whose opinion matters most (God) is the one who loves you most. That is the freedom you were looking for in every other relationship; attempt to hide/excel; or pondering about what it would mean to be “the real you.”

To see the first 100 posts in this series click here.

Is There a “Jesus Personality”?

by brad on April 1, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 3 Comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“Suppose a person who knew nothing about salt. You give him a pinch to taste and he experiences a particular strong, sharp taste. You then tell him that in your country people use salt in all their cookery. Might he not reply ‘In that case I suppose all your dishes taste exactly the same: because the taste of that stuff you have just given me is so strong that it will kill the taste of everything else.’ But you and I know what the real effect of salt is exactly the opposite. So far from killing the taste of the egg and the tripe and the cabbage, it actually brings it out. They do not show their real taste until you have added the salt (p. 224-225).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisIs there one prototype Christian personality? If the aim of every Christian is to be Christ-like, is there an idyllic “Jesus personality”? If every Christian is supposed to manifest the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), does this list represent the temperament of the Holy Spirit?

It would be tempting, on the basis of logic, to say, “Yes, that makes sense. I think there would be.” But if that were the case then some people would have a genetic advantage or dispositional advantage in their walk with God – calm people, social people, smart people, charismatic people, etc…

But Lewis’ quote helps us avoid taking that line of thinking too far.

No doubt, like the taste of salt, the teaching of Scripture is strong. If “tasted” apart from the people it was meant to “season,” one would assume every genuine Christ-follower would be just alike. However, that is not the function of God’s Word.

God gave the Bible to draw out of each person the unique gifts and passions He placed in those individuals for the purpose of advancing His kingdom. In light of this reflection, read I Corinthians 12:4-11 (ESV).

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

The same Spirit who gives us uniform character qualities gives us diversity of gifts. Love, joy, peace, patience, and the other fruit of the Spirit would take on different qualities when they are expressed by someone strong in wisdom, faith, hospitality, etc…

The same God who calls us all to be like Christ, also made us male and female, with different cultures, with different passions, and many other differences.

In this sense, God is like every other Father (biblical images are always the most illuminating). While a father has many children who all bear his image, each one (even if they are twins) have unique features that make them distinguishable and special. Anyone who knows the family well can both tell you who their father is and tell you what makes each one unique. There is not contradiction or tension.

To see the first 100 posts in this series click here.

 

C.S. Lewis Says “Christians ‘Need’ Less”

by brad on March 25, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 1 Comment

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“They do not draw attention to themselves. You tend to think that you are being kind to them when they are really being kind to you. They love you more than other men do, but they need you less. (We must get over wanting to be needed: in some goodish people, specially women, that is the hardest of all temptations to resist.) (p. 223).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisWhat is it like to interact with a genuine Christian who is living out their faith? That is the question Lewis is seeking to answer. His answer:

  • They are the kind of people you genuinely want to be nice to.
  • As you are nice to them you find that you get more than you receive.
  • The relationship is free from the “indebted” tone of most sacrificial relationships.

I find that the “over wanting” of being “needed” has more of a gender balance than Lewis implies, but his observation, in my opinion, is an important one. When we understand the gospel we will not find our significance in how many people rely upon us, and we will be so engaged in our relationships that we will naturally bless those who bless us (Gen. 12:1-3).

Let’s turn each of those three bullets into a reflective question.

First, are you caring for those around you as you fulfill your roles with excellence to such a degree that people want to be nice to you? This form of “excellent niceness” would have to be stronger than the people-pleasing activity we often call “being nice.”

Second, are you so gracious and grateful when people are nice to you that their life is better because of their having been with you? It can be challenging to find ways to bless those who bless us without trying to “pay them back.”

Third, after people have been in a friendship with you, are they less prone to score keeping and feeling compelled to weigh what they “need” from the relationship? This is a level of freedom in relationship that is very absent in our day. Some try to attain it by removing any moral constraint, but that only results in more people getting hurt as cultural restraint on sin is removed.

Chances are none of us answer yes, yes, and yes. The more important question, however, is “Are we asking these questions? Are these goals on our radar throughout our day? If married, are we using our home as an experimental laboratory for this style of relationship? Do we brainstorm/ daydream about the implications of these questions?”

If we can answer yes to this latter cluster of questions, then we will be able to, with increasing frequency, answer yes to the three bulleted questions Lewis raised. The answer to these questions will look different for each person who dares to ask them. More than that, they will likely look different in each relationship a person is brave enough to live out their implications.

However, to the degree that we answer them, we will find a level of enjoyment and satisfaction in our relationships that was possible no other way.

To see the first 100 posts in this series click here.

C.S. Lewis on Dying Christianity

by brad on March 18, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 1 Comment

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“Again and again it [the world] has thought Christianity was dying, dying by persecutions from without and corruptions from within, by the rise of Mohammedanism, the rise of the physical sciences, the rise of great anti-Christianity revolutionary movements. But every time the world has been disappointed. Its first disappointment was over the crucifixion. The Man came to life again (p. 222).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisDo your hopes for Christianity rise and fall with major events? A celebrity or “big name” athlete professes faith in Christ publicly and we think, “That’s a big boost for our side.” A scandal breaks in the news about popular church leaders and we think, “Who will want to come to church now?”

I don’t want to condemn that rise and fall; partly because I ride that roller coaster, but also because that is the nature of being fully engaged with something. If you are really committed to someone or something, then its gain and losses will affect you.

Admittedly, I feel a bit of a double bind. I don’t want to be unmoved by the good or bad fortune of God’s kingdom, even if it’s only temporal. I want to be moved to praise or pray as needed in every circumstance. But I don’t want to be so moved that my sense of hope ebbs and flows with daily events.

How do we have one without the other? The short answer is (in my opinion) we don’t, at least not perfectly. I’m not going to care as much as I want to care about the things of God and be as dispassionately objective as I want to be in the midst of (at least perceived) challenges to His kingdom.

The better question (again, in my opinion) is how concerned should I be that I won’t strike this perfect balance? The answer to that question would be “it depends” on whether in bad times my instincts move towards prayer or despair and whether in good times my instincts move towards pride/complacency or praise/proclamation.

Sometimes we think God’s sovereignty should make us stoics (emotionally unmoved by the significant events of life); that holiness was the muting of emotion. Other times we think that we can only honor God with the emotions at the pleasant end of the emotional spectrum; that unpleasant emotions (i.e., grief, fear, sadness, etc…) are inherently impure.

These kinds of beliefs make it very hard for us to do anything practical with the kind of truth contained in Lewis’ quote. It is only when we acknowledge that God made us emotional creatures who can honor Him on both ends of the emotional spectrum that we can respond to the kind of dark events that Lewis references in personally-authentic, faith-filled ways.

It is only then that we can pray with the Psalmist, “When I am afraid [honestly acknowledging bad times and having the appropriate emotional response], I put my trust in you [expressing a faith that can be measured a “great” because it is bigger than a real fear].”

So when I watch the Kentucky Wildcats or St. Louis Cardinals, my hope and fears rise and fall with the uncertainty temporal concerns entail. When I observe with the advances and setbacks of God’s kingdom, my hopes and fears still rise and fall (because I am passionately engaged), but with the trust that God’s power and track record deserve.

C.S. Lewis on Being Alone with God

by brad on March 11, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 1 Comment

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him (p. 217).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewis“If so-and-so is going to heaven, then I’m sure to get in… I have to be better than 49% of the population. After all, there are a lot of bad people in the world and I’m not one of them.” These are the kinds of statements that we use to try to draw a crowd between us and God. Yet this is not how our fate with God will be determined.

Imagine it as one of the modern talent reality shows. Contestants compete amongst their peers for weeks, but when they learn if they make it into the “Top 10” they walk before the judges by themselves. They watch excerpts of their performances with no one else on the stage.

As they stand before the judges, there is no one else to point at. There are no fans to cheer or boo in order to sway the judges’ opinions. They are alone as they learn their fate.

That is a loose metaphor of our judgment experience before God. Read again II Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one [singular] may receive what is due for what he [or she] has done in the body, whether good or bad.”

This moment will either be our return to Eden, where we feel completely exposed and unashamed because we are covered in the righteousness of Christ (Gen. 2:25, Phil. 3:9), or we will have the sentence of expulsion (Gen. 3:22-24) from God’s presence finalized because we cling to our comparative excuses.

Either way, we will feel very alone with God; for better or worse, blessing or curse, accepted or rejected.

Yet in that very-alone-moment one of two things will happen. Either that will be the last alone moment you ever feel as you are welcomed into eternal community, or it will become the beginning of eternal isolation and pain as your choice to reject God is made permanent.

We quickly realized that God removed everyone from that moment not for intimidation or dramatic effect, but to highlight that eternity is decided between He and each individual. A child only fears an invitation to speak with a parent alone if he or she has done something wrong. When the relationship is right, there is more reason to expect a treat than a punishment at an invitation for personal time together.

The fact that we fear being alone with God reveals our guilt and need for Christ. If you’ve read to this point in Mere Christianity, then you would know that Lewis is not making a threat – “Just wait until you get to Heaven’s gate, you’re going to be alone with God then and get what you deserve.”

The point is to make a final appeal to his reader who might still believe that our comparative logic might be enough to persuade God. Our comparative logic is as satisfying to God as re-gifting a broken and poorly repaired present someone gave you last Christmas to the same person. It was theirs to begin with and in better condition when they gave it to you.

The whole point of heaven is that we are welcome in God’s presence. Being alone with God is merely the first course of the unhindered access to God we’ll enjoy for eternity.

C.S. Lewis on a Balanced Personalities

by brad on March 4, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 1 Comment

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“‘Niceness’ – wholesome, integrated personality – is an excellent thing. We must try by every medical, educational, economic, and political means in our power to produce a world where as many people as possible grow up ‘nice’; just as we must try to produce a world where all have plenty to eat. But we must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls… For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people (p. 215-216).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisAll squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. That is the same logic that Lewis using when he says: redemption produces improvement, but not all improvement is redemptive. That would mean there are some forms of “better” that are “fool’s gold” if we are relying on our performance as assurance that we are right with God.

But let’s slow down and take the journey as Lewis lays it out. There are many ways to help people enjoy life more and to increase the quality of their relationships. Education provides more effective ways to approach life and improves the quality of conversations. The medical field reduces the interference of pain and disease. A good economy provides opportunities to pursue dreams. Politics should ensure safety and equality of opportunity between people.

But let’s assume, for the sake of intellectual honesty, we lived in a country with excellent education, good medicine, a growing economy, and a just government; would that resolve the greatest challenges that face individuals and society – crime, selfishness, laziness, family neglect, prejudice,  etc…?

In various times throughout human history there have been civilizations that thrived in most of these areas, but they have all failed to make people good. No civilization has eliminated addiction, abuse, or manipulation. No education system has implanted motivation where it was lacking. No health system can curb people’s intent to live in unhealthy ways.

These things can increase a culture’s “average life expectancy” and sometimes produce cultural trends that show the more grievous expressions of sin (i.e., violent crime) are decreasing. But they cannot make individual souls or families whole. They cannot replace the despair of impending death with the hope of eternal life.

I agree with Lewis. We should do everything we morally can at the civic, scientific, and educational levels to enrich culture and the life of every person within that culture. But we must also recognize that better will be woefully insufficient without redemption.

Something must radically change within a person, before changes in his/her environment will have the effect we all know is needed. People need the new heart Christ offers (Ezek. 36:26) in order for positive changes culture offers to take root. Otherwise the soil of our heart is rocky and short term good works are choked out by the cares of our world and the selfishness of our nature (Luke 8:4-15).

So as we teach, govern, care, counsel, or in any other way seek to enrich the lives of those around us, let us remember we are doing a good thing. But let us do these good things as opportunities to leverage these relationships for the purpose of sharing the ultimate thing – the gospel. In that way, we can help people improve their life (in whatever way our vocation helps others improve their life) without creating the false hope/pressure that their hope is in their ability to improve.

C.S. Lewis on the Gospel Paradox

by brad on February 25, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with No comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“There is a paradox. As long as Dick does not turn to God, he thinks his niceness is his own, and just as long as he thinks that, it is not his own. It is when Dick realizes that his niceness is not his own but a gift from God, and when he offers it back to God – it is just then that it begins to be really his own… The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God. What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose (p. 213).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisPick your greatest strength or personal asset: being nice (as Lewis refers to), intelligence, work ethic, organization, charisma, music ability, athleticism, etc… Place that thing in Lewis’ quote above in order to feel the appropriate sense of discomfort.

Chances are your response is like mine – that is mine (possession) or that is who I am (identity). Lewis says as soon as I think that way I’m wrong – I’ve lost what was given to me by God. How does that work?

What it can’t mean is that the attribute evaporates as soon as I take credit for it. Hard working people don’t cease to be hard working people because they take pride in being better than people who don’t work as hard. If anything, their pride leads them to work harder to maintain their identity.

Two things happen which make their strength “less their own.”

First, they lose the “credit” for their strength before God. When a personal characteristic becomes corrupted by pride no longer does God look upon that “strength” with favor. God does not love us like an employer loves an employee, but like a father loves a son.

An employer looks at the productivity to determine his/her opinion of an employee. The more an employee advances that company or increases the profit margin the more pleased the employer is. It doesn’t matter to an employer if the employee is motivated by fear, pride, greed, or benevolence.

A good father looks at what is best for the son/daughter and determines whether something is good on the basis of their overall well-being. A child can be excelling in a way that is exhausting or compromising his/her character and “winning” will not be seen as good.

That is why when we fail to offer our strengths (and for that matter our weaknesses) to God, He does not count that strengths as “credits” to our account. God sees the pride or false identity in our life and is right to warn of impending danger. That leads to the second thing that happens.

Second, their strength mutates from a blessing to a master – they belong to their strength instead of their strength belonging to them. When we fail to recognize our strength as coming from God, we begin to rely upon our strength for more than it can give.

Either we pridefully believe our strength is what makes us “good” and we judge those who are not good (by the standard of our strength), or we fearfully live with thoughts that we will not be able to continually live up to previous levels of “good.” Either way, we begin to belong to our strength instead of our strength belonging to us.

What is the alternative? It is giving our strength to God in recognition that it came from Him and receiving Christ’s righteousness through the forgiveness of our sins as what makes us “good enough.” When this happens our natural strengths can be restored and used for the purpose God originally gave them to us. They are ours because we are His.

To see the first 100 posts in this series click here.

C.S. Lewis on “A Gift to Who?”

by brad on February 18, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with No comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“You cannot expect God to look at Dick’s placid temper and friendly disposition exactly as we do. They result from natural causes which God Himself creates. Being merely temperamental, they will disappear if Dick’s digestion alters. The niceness, in fact, is God’s gift to Dick, not Dick’s gift to God (p. 211).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

lewisIt would be easy for an anxious person to think that God is more pleased with a calm person, because their life is bearing more of the fruit of peace. Similarly, it would be easy for an introvert to think that God is more pleased with an extrovert, because they fulfill more of the “one another” commands of the New Testament.

The same thought pattern could be used in evaluating God’s pleasure in our intelligence, attractiveness, various personality traits, and other factors that are significantly influenced by how God knit us together genetically in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139).

While this way of thinking is natural, Lewis is challenging us to consider whether it is accurate. He challenges us to realize that this is the equivalent of saying that God takes more pleasure in tall people for being tall than he does short people (assuming a culture where height is valued).

When we consider this question rationally (instead of through the bias of our own insecurity or pride) we realize it is silly. Being tall is not a virtue; it’s a blessing. God does not praise us for the blessing He gives us; we praise Him.

How is this helpful? It helps us have a more accurate picture of how we relate to God. We begin to realize every good thing in our life is a gift and that we are prone to label blessings as virtues.

When we realize that every good part of our life is a gift from God we are free to steward those gifts as evidences of God’s favor rather than living under the pressure to perform up to someone else’s gifting in order to earn God’s favor.

So what does that mean for Dick and his friend who (apparently) is more easily agitated? Dick should realize he cannot “coast” because of his naturally even keel demeanor. God will assess Dick’s faithfulness based upon what he does with what God gave him – “to whom much was given, of him much will be required (Luke 12:48).”

For Dick’s less patient friend, it means he is free from competing with Dick. God has no expectation that he “catch up” to his friend. He should strive to grow in patience at each opportunity when life presents an agitant.

But the main question this friend should ask is, “What strengths has God given me and how can I use them?” As this friend pursues his areas of God-given strength, two things are likely to happen.

First, he will likely become more patient as he follows God’s design instead of Dick’s standard.

Second, he will feel less resentment or insecurity around Dick (or other patient people) which will also aid his ability to handle moments when patience is required.

To see the first 100 posts in this series click here.

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