Designs of the Heart

Millions today no longer look for satisfaction through a loving relationship with God and other people. Life revolves around their own selves and they are busy seeking their own fulfillment. Our calling is to love with all our being the God who first loved us and to love others as ourselves. This is a pathway to a joy-filled satisfying life. When we are too concerned about this world with its riches and distractions, we grow cold towards God’s Word. The Bible encourages us in Col. 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. We can do nothing by ourselves but when we let our savior live through us, others will see Christ in all we do. In our places of responsibility we can choose to be faithful followers of Christ. We may not hear the applause of this world but will someday be rewarded in Heaven. “We may face situations beyond our reserves, but never beyond God’s resources”.

We always hear that even though we can’t control our circumstances, we can control our attitude. God himself is the chief architect of all the changes that come into our life. As a loving father, He is always there to personally direct our growth. Once a solid foundation has set in place, we are able to grow into the new life. The Bible calls this as ‘maturing in Christ’ and this is a lifelong process.

Our attitudes, thinking and language should move to a new level. Selfishness has to give way to service. Our relationships with others should be restored. When love towards our fellow human beings increase, bitterness, envy and hatred diminish. All these become easy as we acknowledge the fact that Christ is living in us. These inward changes become visible to others also. God’s word becomes more relevant and understandable.

When we are buried in troubles, disappointments, confusion and frustration, it seems like you can’t possibly see anything good in it. That is because the winds of worldly pleasures blow continuously blocking our foresight.  We find ourselves silently accepting that it is very difficult to live for Christ. Yes even I firmly believe that it is difficult because He has set high standards for us. The most effective strategy is to count on your inner strength. Everything He provides for us and does for us helps us to attain these standards. The divine light of Christ fills us with pure love, happiness and peace. To attain this divine perfection we have to be charitable, loving, honest, virtuous, upright and clean, no matter what the circumstances may be.

We are taught from childhood, love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and by loving our neighbours. If we follow this there is no room for devil or darkness of the world. The secret lies in changing outlooks, attitudes, values and habits of the mind. Let us make our life easy by adopting a few good old techniques.