As active and noisy as they are, children force the world to slow down and stop taking itself so seriously. Seaside Story, original oil painting by Steve Henderson, sold. Licensed open edition prints at Great Big Canvas, Light in the Box, iCanvasART, and Framed Canvas Art.
I love reading about the disciples. They’re so refreshingly human, constantly expressing fear and doubt and selfish ambition. One of the greatest gifts the Bible gives us is that it’s written honestly, and doesn’t — like we do — provide false impressions of who people are and what they’re like.
Luke 9: 46- 48 tells us that,
“An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.”
A statement like this is so much more convincing than, “George Washington stood before his father and said, ‘I cannot tell a lie. I chopped the cherry tree down.'” Similar “inspiring” stories are fed to us hourly through magazines, newspapers, text books, movies, talk shows and documentaries, with very little mention of this great statesman forgetting to leave a tip to the hardworking waiter who put up with him and his entourage, or that fine religious leader demanding to know why the sales of his latest book are down.
And we call the Bible a bunch of mythological stories.
Please read the rest of the story at How to Be Great, Important and Significant at my BeliefNet column, Commonsense Christianity. I am very grateful to all of you who click through; I would print the entire column if I could, but am precluded from doing so.
This article is linked to The Not Quite Military Wife, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, 100 Pound Countdown, Motivation Monday, A Blossoming Life, Mopping the Floor, Paradise Praises, Time Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, My Disorganized Life, A little r and r, We Are That Family, Wholehearted Home, Homemakers, My daily walk in his grace, A Wise Woman, Hope in Every Season,
This Woman Writes by Carolyn Henderson 
Visiting from Winsome Wednesday linkup 🙂 You bring up such great points in your column, but I love the reminder of the “refreshingly human” disciples. It encourages me that God also forgives us our own sins and messes. And He can use us – faults and all – for His purposes. Saying hi as your neighbor in Winsome Wednesday!
Ah, Angela — God forgives, over and over, our many sins and messes! While we wallow in them, kicking the dirt, He’s saying, “I’m glad that you see that what you said hurt somebody. We’ll fix what we can. Now, let’s move on. I love you, child.”
The intriguing thing about His using us is that He doesn’t need us, but we need Him. We NEED to do the things that He has put on our heart — it’s not that He is obligated to us because we choose to agree to use the gifts that He gives us, but that we are completed because we ask Him to show us how to use those gifts. May you rest in His grace, mercy, and friend, my sister. — Carolyn
I will be hopping over to finish the article!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!