{"id":38159,"date":"2015-08-20T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T15:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=38159"},"modified":"2017-10-24T14:52:17","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T21:52:17","slug":"become-more-godly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/become-more-godly\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Trying to Become More Godly"},"content":{"rendered":"
It is commonly thought that the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to make us more spiritual. That through indwelling and empowering us, He connects us to our “spiritual” side so that we become more Godly and spiritually-minded. <\/p>\n
Nothing could be further from the truth. <\/p>\n
The Holy Spirit is given to us, not so that we can be more Godly, but so that we can be more human. So that you can be you, and I can be me. <\/p>\n
One of the great lies of the Christian religion is that God wants you to be like Him.<\/strong> <\/p>\n This is not true. God does not want you to become like Him. God wants you to become like you. <\/p>\n God wants you to become fully you. <\/p>\n God wants you to become like the person He created you to be. <\/p>\n God does not want you to become fully divine, but to become fully human. <\/p>\n C. S. Lewis once said that the goal of life is to learn to come outside of ourselves. He did not mean that you become less “yourself” but that you become fully “yourself.” Most of us hide our “true self” in the dark recesses of our hearts and minds, afraid that if we come out, people will not like us, love us, or accept us.<\/p>\n We feel that the true person crouching in a dark corner of our heart is not worthwhile, not valuable, not able to contribute, not worth revealing, not worth loving. <\/p>\n This is the great lie, and it seems to me that Christianity often contributes to it. <\/p>\n Many Christians, churches, pastors, and books tell people that who they are is “wrong” and “of this world” and they need to die to themselves and become like Jesus Christ. And while there are attributes and character traits to each of us that need to be sloughed off so that other aspects can be raised up to their potential, I think that we sometimes get the two reversed so that we disown and discredit that which should be strengthened and honored, and we raise up and glorify those things we should let die.<\/p>\n Christianity is great at making clones. <\/p>\n We all wear church-sanctioned clothes, use church-sanctioned language, and engage in church-sanctioned activities. <\/p>\n We do this for the sake of “community” but such community is dead because all the people in it are dead. Sure, they may be breathing and talking, but they are not really living. They are not living within the astonishing uniqueness which God gave them.<\/p>\n You are not fully alive until you become fully you. <\/strong><\/p>\n The will of God for your life is not a “to do” list so that you can change who you are and become more like God. No, the will of God for your life is that you discover who you are, and then become most fully “you.” <\/p>\n God does not desire a performance, but a person, and He loves you for who you ARE, not for who you might one day become.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
We Must Come out of Hiding<\/h2>\n
The Great Lie about Humanity<\/h2>\n