Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to
them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special
interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will
never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to
ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but
of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn
that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side
of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part
of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His
providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything
we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is
our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new
creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing
remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does
our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18).
How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and
is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of
love that “is kind . . . is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).
The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by
having only simple, perfect trust in God— such a trust that we no longer
want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the
point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in
Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be
concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually
trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.
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