19: Act More Like God

This is the first devotional lesson that actually makes a lot of sense. It basically talks about how we don't matter. What truly matters to God is what He can do through us. Okay. I can buy into this. A lot of life is not about us and we begin to realize that as we grow older. Christmas, for example, becomes less about what we get and more about what others get. Sadly, I sometimes feel like I'm in my infancy of Christianity and this is a time that it's mostly about me, but not always. College is a time for self-discovery and identity. We are paying thousands of dollars so that we can become respectable citizens in our society. So I think that college is mostly about trying to find out who I am, while discovering who I'm not.

But now the book says that it's not about me and about God. My question then becomes, 'Can my life ever be about me and about God at the same time?' Is it possible to do something for or through God and have the results affect or help my status as a human being in a secular world? I'm sort of thinking not. It's like that Friends episode where Phoebe tries to do one selfless act to prove to Joey that it's possible. I'm looking for that same type of selfless deed that is free from any expectation of spiritual rewards or punishments. I'm talking about a deed that is done where the reasons why we are doing it are not because we will go to hell if we don't or we will go to heaven if we do. I'm not talking about giving tithes and offerings because we hear stories about how people have gotten financial blessings after they gave. I've tried that and it doesn't work.

However, I did have a problem about what the book says about individuality. It says that God wants us all to be like Him, which means that we would ultimately be all the same. If we are all like God, then we are all like each other. If it's a matter of 'similar yet different' I'm cool with that. But why make us all different and try to fit us through a cookie cutter? If we all become like God, we will lack the differences that make Christians human beings with a right to choose. I just find it hard to comprehend every Christian acting like God, acting the same. Besides, some Christians already think they act like God. Hmm. Interesting.