Costly

Anything of value will cost something. The better that something is, the more (obviously) it will cost. Though something of value may be costly, not acquiring that something may be just as costly - if not more so...

Home improvements are a good example of this concept. You may not want to spend the money to repair something in your home, but if you don't, in the end you'll pay more. Maintaining health is another example. Staying healthy may or may not cost money (it is possible to work out without a gym membership) but it will cost the effort of exercise and the pain of denying yourself pleasures you may prefer to enjoy -- larger portions, desert, alcohol, etc. If you don't stay healthy, however, medical bills as well as potential disability could result; not to mention the fact that someone whose cholesterol is sky high or whose kidneys don't work must change his diet simply to survive.

Lately I've been pondering the cost of what I'll call "inner health". By "inner health" I mean psychological, emotional, and spiritual health. This kind of health leaves you free to make loving choices about how you relate to yourself and others and God. Being healthy in this way is perhaps the most costly because it involves laying down and leaving behind many things we'd prefer to hold onto or not to think about.

Last night during a committee meeting at church we were discussing a couple of services our interim minister was calling "healing" services. One was for our choir and the other for the congregation in general. In both cases "healing" is what's needed. We find ourselves playing out the same tragedy every few years, with the characters and lines changed only sightly. Clearly there is dysfunction at work. Right now we're in a good place, but beneath the surface, there are still unhealthy patterns ready to emerge given the right circumstances or triggers.

What's interesting is that there was great resistance to calling the services "healing" services. "The word 'healing' implies that there's something wrong." Exactly! There is something wrong. In the end we decided to call the services "A New Day" or "Fresh Start" or something like that. The truth is, it doesn't matter what we call the services. What matters is that we recognize that there's something wrong and decide we'll do whatever it takes to make it better.

I've been a Christian now for 31 years. I am still in need of healing - and lots of it. Don't get me wrong... I'm a relatively high functioning adult with mostly healthy relationships. But my relationships are not 100% healthy. By that I mean that love is not my motivation 100% of the time. Until it is I'm in need of healing.

Jesus is the perfect picture of one who lived in freedom and love. He responded to others with a heart perfectly in tune with the Father's. As Christ is formed in us, our lives will more closely resemble his. But we must understand that love and freedom come at a price. It's a price that must be paid daily: laying down fear, unforgiveness, selfish desires, lust -- anything that gets in the way -- and replacing them with the fruit of the Spirit.

Love is always stretching - calling us outside of our comfort zones. It's costly. But it's more costly to continue to live otherwise. It's more painful to live out the same tragedies again and again.

The writer of Hebrews was on to something when he said,
"... let us rid ourselves of every burden of sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us, while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, heedless of its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God." -- Hebrews 12: 1b - 2