Okay, okay, OKAY:
A.) We don't merely infer that we forgive because God 1st forgave us from Paul's epistles concerning the way we love because God 1st loved us. Paul' epistles actually say it.
B.) An important part of altruism is that it's positivity is unconditional.
C.) Love, forgiveness, etc... don't have to take place as some form of transaction, this would fly in the face of altruism's nature of being unconditional.
Why say these things with a bunch of "okays" like I'm excited about some new evidence? Because no more than a few days after I blogged about this, sun.'s meditation for the whole congregation came from the smaller class & made clear these additional/ corrective items. How cool is that?
Buy Bonds & Teach Your Kids Breathing Exercises While They're Young Enough To Of Think It As Some Fun Game, TODAY!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
"Forgivness & Altruism"
On July 30th I posted a blog entitled "Fellowship vs. Max Lucado" that explained how red warning flags pop up for me when I hear something (especially religious stuff) trying to make it "about me" (ref: "It's Not About Me" by Max Lucado). I find this to fall apart in the area of personal responsibility. When it comes to that, it is about me.
I found this out in Greg's sun. class where we discussed how forgiving others may be more about something we do for our own benefit than the one we are forgiving. This was not a new subject for Greg, but because it may've been new for others it was treated like it. Somewhere along the line I realized this robs forgiveness of the very altruism it's supposed to engender... until it dawned on me that paths are not the same as destinations (re: "Life's a journey not a destination").
If forgiveness (among other things) engenders altruism, what leads to it may indeed involve some searching inside one's self. Bear in mind this is the antithesis of altruism which is thinking of other's needs & wants so much you forget to ask "What's in it for me"? This definition of altruism is easy to remember because it jives so well with a definition of faith being you trust so much you forget to doubt. Though a goal of altruism may be forgetting how "I" fit into any given thing, my starting point may be how do "I" become altruistic. A very self centered question may be necessary. How do "I" forget about "me"?
Forgiveness is such an appropriate example, because if there is work that needs to take place inside of me (like forming a forgiving heart), then I have a personal responsibility. That is by definition about me. From Paul's Epistles we learn that: "We love God, because He 1st loved us." From this we infer that we forgive, because God 1st forgave us. These are examples of people taking personal responsibility. One may ask why take responsibility and the answer can be so that we are better equipped to serve others (altruistic). A single mother may put down the bottle and sober-up. Why? So she can better take care of her kids. Doing it for herself alone may not be enough.
If we forgive another more to our benefit than to the one being forgiven, we are doing work in ourselves that is required for service to others... such as forgiving!
Buy Bonds & Get Your Kids On Centering Payer TODAY!
I found this out in Greg's sun. class where we discussed how forgiving others may be more about something we do for our own benefit than the one we are forgiving. This was not a new subject for Greg, but because it may've been new for others it was treated like it. Somewhere along the line I realized this robs forgiveness of the very altruism it's supposed to engender... until it dawned on me that paths are not the same as destinations (re: "Life's a journey not a destination").
If forgiveness (among other things) engenders altruism, what leads to it may indeed involve some searching inside one's self. Bear in mind this is the antithesis of altruism which is thinking of other's needs & wants so much you forget to ask "What's in it for me"? This definition of altruism is easy to remember because it jives so well with a definition of faith being you trust so much you forget to doubt. Though a goal of altruism may be forgetting how "I" fit into any given thing, my starting point may be how do "I" become altruistic. A very self centered question may be necessary. How do "I" forget about "me"?
Forgiveness is such an appropriate example, because if there is work that needs to take place inside of me (like forming a forgiving heart), then I have a personal responsibility. That is by definition about me. From Paul's Epistles we learn that: "We love God, because He 1st loved us." From this we infer that we forgive, because God 1st forgave us. These are examples of people taking personal responsibility. One may ask why take responsibility and the answer can be so that we are better equipped to serve others (altruistic). A single mother may put down the bottle and sober-up. Why? So she can better take care of her kids. Doing it for herself alone may not be enough.
If we forgive another more to our benefit than to the one being forgiven, we are doing work in ourselves that is required for service to others... such as forgiving!
Buy Bonds & Get Your Kids On Centering Payer TODAY!
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