Close to the Cross 2
Bible passage: Galatians 2:19-20
“19. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. "
As faith matures, many changes occur.
And one of the most outstanding of these changes is that when one encounters a problem, we see that the person who was always looking for the focus of the problem on the outside is now focusing on the inside, that is, by looking at himself. There is an article written by an unknown person like this; “When I was young, I tried to change the world, but it wasn’t easy, so I tried to change the country I lived in.
But that wasn’t easy either, so I tried to change the village I lived in, but I couldn’t.” “When I reached middle age, I tried to change my family for the last time, but I couldn’t, and it wasn’t until later that I realized that the only thing I could change was myself.”
And he explained it like this: “If I had started to change myself from the beginning, it would have affected my family. Changes in the family would have caused changes in the village, and changes in the village would have had the effect of changing the country and the world.” It is deeply moving because it is written by a person who has lived for a long time, looking back on the past years and realizing that the starting point of all change must be ‘oneself.’ Mahatma Gandhi similarly said, “If you want to change the world, first change yourself.”
First, what should I do to change myself and change my family, society, country, and world? We can find the answer in today’s scripture. The text introduces the grace and power of the cross that transforms oneself, one's family, and the world through a mature faith that focuses all problems on oneself.
