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Spiritual Bankruptcy |
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Article by Tom Gilbert
— © April, 2009
We all know times are tough right
now. You can’t escape the news. We are in a
recession. It is perhaps the worst economic downturn
since the Great Depression. Some are even labeling
our crisis the Great Recession.
With all the media attention on our troubled time
it is easy to get caught up in the gloom and doom.
Focusing on negativity will not make things better,
however, so I try to take a different tact. I believe
that when you stop living in the problem and start
living in the solution the problem goes away. Or
at least you find a way to face the problem.
The big problem I see today is not so much that
unemployment is on the rise and banks are foreclosing
on homes (but please don’t think I’m minimizing
the plight of anyone dealing with those challenges).
The problem I perceive is that too many people are
going bankrupt spiritually. A very large part of
the population seems lost in a culture that emphasizes
materialism, consumerism and egoism. These things
never satisfy. Not ultimately.
The good news that sometimes comes out of the bad
news of a great recession is that more of us get
a wakeup call to what life is really all about.
Life is more than getting our comfort. Money cannot
solve all our problems. Yes, it is nice to not have
to worry and fret over where the money is to pay
the bills or where your next meal might come from.
Still, the true hunger and thirst we have can only
be satisfied from finding real purpose and meaning
in life. Hitting bottom means there is only one
way to go - up! To rise from the despair of our
emotional and spiritual bottoms we must find an
answer to our purpose and meaning.
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The Great Message of Christianity
The great message of Christianity is that God cares,
is present and does not require we be at a certain
level of goodness or be worthy of assistance. God
already knows we need help and that we aren’t
perfect. That is why God came to us as a human –
Jesus Christ – to save us and show us the way.
God does for us what we can’t do for ourselves.
And God does through us – with our cooperation
and participation – great and wonderful things.
Don’t let any misconceptions about religion
or Christianity or what you think you know about
Jesus keep you from discovering for yourself the
grace available to you. That grace is free. You
only have to accept it gratefully and be willing
to pay it forward. Doing for others is the model
Jesus gave us. We can’t fix things on our own
power. God can reveal solutions that we haven’t
discovered without his help.
There is a way to deal with our very real problems
during this recession. It is a spiritual solution.
Love is the ultimate currency.
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| Tom Gilbert
is a writer and spiritual seeker who edits and maintains
the Living the Solution web site. You may reprint
this article as long as you give credit and a link
back to www.livingthesolution.com |
Scripture taken from
the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright
© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by
permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are
registered trademarks of International Bible Society.
Use of either trademark for the offering of goods
or services requires the prior written consent of
International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from
the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright
©1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All rights
reserved.
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1
CORINTHIANS 13:4-8
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"Love is patient,
love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
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(NIV)
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