How to Change the World
Some of us who are old enough can recall the words to the old song “Let There be Peace on Earth, and Let it Begin with Me.” I really hope peace on earth won’t be dependent on me, because I fail too much. God is the only One able to do it. I might do well in one category of my life for once, but then the ol’ sin nature pops out somewhere else. There aren’t enough thumbs to plug up the dike of my badness. I might control the sin of gluttony for a time, but then I’ll pig out one time and undo all the good that’s been done.
This morning I was walking and praying in the Phoenix heat—a great stimulant for prayer when you wonder if you’ll make it back to cooler air without melting—and was asking God to change the world. I mentioned that I couldn’t see it happening because people just kept getting more and more evil. Then it occurred to me: how could I expect others to change their habits when I, as a believer who is supposedly controlled by the Holy Spirit, don’t allow that Spirit to control me? As the song says, the change in the world begins with you and with me. So I’m going to focus on emery-boarding off the very rough edges of my own self and stop trying to point fingers at others.
This morning I was walking and praying in the Phoenix heat—a great stimulant for prayer when you wonder if you’ll make it back to cooler air without melting—and was asking God to change the world. I mentioned that I couldn’t see it happening because people just kept getting more and more evil. Then it occurred to me: how could I expect others to change their habits when I, as a believer who is supposedly controlled by the Holy Spirit, don’t allow that Spirit to control me? As the song says, the change in the world begins with you and with me. So I’m going to focus on emery-boarding off the very rough edges of my own self and stop trying to point fingers at others.
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