Finals over...
Well finals are over, as well as a long semester. I feel that I have learned a lot this semester, aside from school. The truth is school is just a means to an end, and our GPA is not the most important thing in the world. I'm probably just saying that because my GPA is going to suffer a lot this semester, but I've thought about it and it's not the end of the world, and what I'm looking for is not just the grade, but life itself.
What has been on my mind lately is virtue. I feel as though I am so up in down in my personality and just everything in general, and what has dawned on me is that "we are the sum of our habits" as Aristotle would put it. We are the sum of what we are in the habit of doing. So to change ourselves, we must change our habits. And thus, success, and character are a product of habit. And the truth is I have never really developed good habits. I've kind of coasted through life, and let life take me, more than me taking life. I'm a product of circumstance. I've been very fortunate in the circumstances and situations that God has placed me in. With extraordinarily great roommates, and just friends given to me. And honestly, I learn more from my friends than anything else. I'm blessed to have these guys in my life, and its true. The people we hang out with are very detrimental to our own outlook on life.
Growing up I never really had a good group of friends. And I can see how much that has impacted my life. And I really believe (and this actually is a big basis for my believe in God and in Christianity (amoungst other things)) that God took me from that. The direction I was going was not a good one. And the situation I was placed in with my roommates and everything, was EXACTLY where i needed to be. This forced me to look at God, because it became evident that if I had been in control of the situation, I would be a lot different person than I am now. And since then, seeing what God has stripped away from me and the direction he is taking me, is what holds me.
But back to virtue. In the Christian life, virtue is looked at a lot differently. Virtue is following God, and through the relationship with God, and through the Bible we are changed. You know, the whole point of the New Testament is that we are saved not through works, but by faith. Works account for nothing. Paul says in Phillipians basically that he was the stud of studs, the Pharisee of Pharisee, in regards to the law PERFECT. But all of that meant nothing compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus.
And the law could not make us righteous. Only the blood and death of Jesus. It is in fact the law that stirs up rebellion in us, and the fact that NO ONE man (other than Jesus) could live perfectly and blamelessly. Man couldn't live up to the law, that is why Jesus came. There was this great gap, and seperating it was our sin. "For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God". And this sin seperated us from God, and from living righteously. And that is why God sent Jesus. The law couldn't fix sin. We all have sin, and the law is a set of works to obtain righteousness, holiness, whatever you want to call it. But the sin still remains. The law created sin, for the fact that there were these certain standards and decree by God, showed what was good what was bad (what was sin).
So Jesus was sent to free us from our sins. And Christian virtue is a matter of faith in Him, not from works which we try to accomplish on our own. That's the distinct difference in the Old and New Testament, and a major issue people face today. How to live the "good life". Is it a matter of our own works? How does faith save us? How does faith produce virtue. Jesus says, "Apart from me you can do nothing". Our works apart from God are meaningless. And the greatness of Christ is in knowing him.
But alas, I will post more on this shortly.
Until then,
Sean Raybuck
What has been on my mind lately is virtue. I feel as though I am so up in down in my personality and just everything in general, and what has dawned on me is that "we are the sum of our habits" as Aristotle would put it. We are the sum of what we are in the habit of doing. So to change ourselves, we must change our habits. And thus, success, and character are a product of habit. And the truth is I have never really developed good habits. I've kind of coasted through life, and let life take me, more than me taking life. I'm a product of circumstance. I've been very fortunate in the circumstances and situations that God has placed me in. With extraordinarily great roommates, and just friends given to me. And honestly, I learn more from my friends than anything else. I'm blessed to have these guys in my life, and its true. The people we hang out with are very detrimental to our own outlook on life.
Growing up I never really had a good group of friends. And I can see how much that has impacted my life. And I really believe (and this actually is a big basis for my believe in God and in Christianity (amoungst other things)) that God took me from that. The direction I was going was not a good one. And the situation I was placed in with my roommates and everything, was EXACTLY where i needed to be. This forced me to look at God, because it became evident that if I had been in control of the situation, I would be a lot different person than I am now. And since then, seeing what God has stripped away from me and the direction he is taking me, is what holds me.
But back to virtue. In the Christian life, virtue is looked at a lot differently. Virtue is following God, and through the relationship with God, and through the Bible we are changed. You know, the whole point of the New Testament is that we are saved not through works, but by faith. Works account for nothing. Paul says in Phillipians basically that he was the stud of studs, the Pharisee of Pharisee, in regards to the law PERFECT. But all of that meant nothing compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus.
And the law could not make us righteous. Only the blood and death of Jesus. It is in fact the law that stirs up rebellion in us, and the fact that NO ONE man (other than Jesus) could live perfectly and blamelessly. Man couldn't live up to the law, that is why Jesus came. There was this great gap, and seperating it was our sin. "For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God". And this sin seperated us from God, and from living righteously. And that is why God sent Jesus. The law couldn't fix sin. We all have sin, and the law is a set of works to obtain righteousness, holiness, whatever you want to call it. But the sin still remains. The law created sin, for the fact that there were these certain standards and decree by God, showed what was good what was bad (what was sin).
So Jesus was sent to free us from our sins. And Christian virtue is a matter of faith in Him, not from works which we try to accomplish on our own. That's the distinct difference in the Old and New Testament, and a major issue people face today. How to live the "good life". Is it a matter of our own works? How does faith save us? How does faith produce virtue. Jesus says, "Apart from me you can do nothing". Our works apart from God are meaningless. And the greatness of Christ is in knowing him.
But alas, I will post more on this shortly.
Until then,
Sean Raybuck
