The Two Sides of the Coin

The Two Sides of the Coin

Lately I have been thinking on the idea that the path to building your faith in God is like the two sides of a coin.

One side is labeled ‘Pride’ the other is labeled ‘Humility’.  You cannot be prideful and be Humble at the same time. 

Matthew 23:12 KJV, Jesus said, “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.”

In order to seek Christ I believe you must first lose your pride. 

You must humble yourself before God by realizing that the works of man are fleeting and quick to pass away.  The accomplishments that you have made in your life are of this world and will soon be forgotten.  The wealth you have accumulated will be dispersed.  Even the good reputation that you built will pass away.  Your grave, for a while faithfully attended by your spouse, family and friends will soon become just another stone marker in a long forgotten cemetery. 

This is a very hard thing to do. 

It is in our nature to be prideful and seek to be recognized for our accomplishments.  But, it seems to become easier as you age to look back on your life and see how temporary and insignificant your efforts were.  You worked all of your life to be the best you can be.  You supported your family, if you were successful perhaps your wealth and stature within the community grew. 

Think about it. 

That career you had, where you spent so much time and effort there to excel at your job all those years, when you left did that company fail?

It was like placing your hand in a bucket of water.  When you removed your hand, the water filled the void and the loss of your hand was immediately covered over.

To be humble is sometimes even harder.  But it begins with the acknowledgement that without Christ, you can do nothing.  You, yourself do not accomplish anything of meaning. 

Ephesians 2:12 (KJV) – ¹²That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.

It is only when Christ works through you that your efforts begin to take on immortality.

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) – ¹³I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This is why Christ should be a prominent member of the home and of your life. 

As you raise them, you will imprint yourself, your beliefs, your Godly character onto your children.  They in turn will continue to pass this impression, this design onto their own children.

The character you show, or better yet the ‘Christ in You’ that you reflect outwards to your family, to others in the Church, or at work or in the community.  That reflection is seen and it too is imprinted on others. 

It is carried forward. 

Sometimes it may be that the ‘bad’ is what is remembered and gets publicized, but it is always the ‘good’ that people see that they will want to reproduce or emulate.

That ‘good’ is the humble person that not only desires to be but IS compassionate, kind and loving to others, who wants to serve others in any manner that will fulfill God’s greatest commandments. 

Matthew 22: 37-40 (KJV) – ³⁷Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  ³⁸This is the first and great commandment.  ³⁹And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”