God Thoughts January 24th

This God thought is about following Jesus and summoning the courage to quit anything that does not belong to his kingdom or fall under his rule.

   Traditionally, the Christian community hasn't placed much value on quitting.  In fact, just the opposite is true; it is endurance and perseverance we most esteem.  For many of us, the notion of quitting is completely foreign.  When I was growing up, quitters were considered weak, bad sports, and babies.  I never quit any of the groups or teams I was part of.  I do remember briefly quitting the Girl Scouts, but I soon rejoined.  Quitting is not a quality we admire in ourselves or in others.

The kind of quitting I'm talking about isn't about weakness or giving up in despair.  It is about strength and choosing to live in the truth.  This requires the death of illusions.  It means ceasing to pretend that everything is fine when it is not.  Perpetuating illusions is a universal problem in marriages, families, friendships, and workplaces.  Tragically, pretending everything is fine when it's not, also happens at church, the very place where truth and love are meant to shine most brightly.

    Biblical quitting goes hand in hand with choosing.  When we quit those things that are damaging to our souls or to the souls of others, we are freed up to choose other ways of being and relating that are rooted in love and lead to life.  For example. . .

When we quit fear of what others think, we choose freedom.

When we quit blaming, we choose to take responsibility.

When we quit faulty thinking, we choose to live in reality.

Quitting is a way of putting off what scripture calls falsehood and the old self.  As the apostle Paul writes "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. " Ephesians 4:22-25

When we quit for the right reasons, we are changed.  Something breaks inside of us when we finally say, "no more."  The Holy Spirit births a new resolve in us.  We rise above our fears and defensiveness.  The hard soil of our heart becomes soft and ready to receive new growth and possibilities.  (I Quit Geri Scazzero with Peter Scszzero Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI.  Pg 15,16)