Make Better, Better

The Spirit wants to make you threatening to all the forces of injustice

and apathy and complacency that keep our world from flourishing.

~John Ortberg

 “That’s good enough.”

“Well, I’ve done my best, I can’t get it better than that.”

Sound familiar? How often do we make those statements? Aren’t the terms an indicator of complacency?  Doesn’t complacency often lead to apathy? Isn’t apathy one of the devil’s hand tools?

Most folks I know are better people than the people they were in earlier chapters of their lives. They got to their better standard by not being complacent, and certainly not apathetic, about themselves or their lives.  When we run into that wall we label a “rut” it’s a good sign when we know we don’t want to fall into the trap of complacency and eventual apathy. I’ve been there and done that, and it was an ugly climb back to becoming my better person. 

Our hope as rational people should always be to make better better. We should never be satisfied. Striving always to make better better, and living that out in our spiritual life, will extend itself into the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of life. We will become people who make better better.

About Me: My rut was living a sinful, irresponsible life. A key component of my thinking during those times was “I can’t be better than I am.” I was resigned to being that person who I was at the time. It was only when I started to address my spiritual sickness that those other areas of my life started to heal as well. I know this wasn’t accomplished on my own. It was the work of the Holy Spirit within me and of others who did His earthly handywork on me, thus causing my better to become better. By the way, it didn’t happen overnight. He had to put in a lot of overtime!

What About You: Do you settle for less than your absolute best when it comes to your spiritual life? You can rest assured that Jesus, our prime example of how to live, was never complacent, never apathetic. Can you give thought to how you can move forward when those attitudes present themselves in your life?

Encouraging Words: Proverbs 1:32, Revelations 3:15-16, Hebrews 5:11-12

The world needs Christians who don’t tolerate the complacency of their lives.

~Francis Chan