I was walking through a restaurant this weekend. It was after preaching the whole morning so my senses were acutely observant. As I walked through the noisy room I could see the willfulness in the conversations.
Isn’t the problem on earth about six billion willful hearts, most vying for their way?
The essence of being Christian is to have fallen to your knees and surrendered your willfulness, not will per se, but your willfulness. And then to align your will with His.
You need your will to exist. But there is a difference between having a will aligned with God’s and standing in your own willfulness.
I have consulted 10o’s of churches and led several and I would say every problem I have seen could be reduced down to a few who have their willfulness ramped up. The human spirit can mimic true godliness pretty well. There is nothing worse than a willful person with religious vocabulary.
How often do you to have to respond to another’s will? This could define your spiritual health.
I think this is part of what Christ meant by his desire that we should be like little children. Little children are purer and more simplistic but really they are the most vulnerable among us to other’s will.
Here’s a little exercise…find a child and ask them what they’d like you to do for them.
