That quote: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive, because what the world needs are men who have come alive” strikes a chord in me. It reminds me of what I've been pondering lately about the difference between being externally motivated and being selfish.
It's been a big theme in my life. I've always done whatever I needed to survive, even if it meant sacrificing myself endlessly in the process. But this causes other issues: For one, at its essence, it's a fake way of living, and people pick up on that. People don't gravitate toward people who are just doing what they think is expected of them. But at the same time, they don't gravitate toward people who are too self-absorbed either.
It reminds me of reading Osho. He said that people need to be more selfish. It opened my eyes for a time, as I read it, as it seemed backwards, but the premise clicked at the time. I remember talking with someone about how I didn't like my job, and realizing that in my core, I believed that jobs were simply not-for-liking. "Work sucks everywhere" was my thinking. I worked at the time at a major defense contractor, which was supposed to be a prestigious accomplishment, but it was honestly the worst job I ever had. Why even try to find a new job? That was just the way the world was, so just suck it up and bury your wants and desires.
I've only recently begun to consider what God wants for me. I can't imagine that he intends for me to needlessly suffer. Perhaps it's quite the opposite - God can give one permission to do what they can to be happy.
I want to discuss this topic: "I've only recently begun to consider what God wants for me. I can't imagine that he intends for me to needlessly suffer. Perhaps it's quite the opposite - God can give one permission to do what they can to be happy.”
I grew up at a charismatic Christian church that believed in miracles, healing, prophecy, tongues, etc. I took 2 life lessons from my time there that I believe significantly derailed my potential for a contented life:
1. The belief that God has a perfect will for my life in virtually every moment, and that I can only walk in that if I’m attuned to the whisper of his voice at all times. This means that if I feel a compulsion to talk to a stranger about Jesus and I don’t act on it, I have deviated from the path. A bit like the Marvel Cinematic Universe Timelines. Each act of what I considered to be disobedience created an alternate timeline that led me away from a portion of God’s perfect will for my life.
So that was a mess that I struggled with for years and years. It led to accepting a mindset that I was perpetually outside the realm of God’s will for my life, which would lead to misfortune, sickness, hardship, whatever.
2. The belief that believers are supposed to wait on the Lord to be called, and then continue to serve faithfully until they are sent.
In this worldview, God calls each person to a function, like a piece of machinery in the great machine of humanity. Like Joseph in the Old Testament, he was given a glimpse of that purpose but he made it his identity before he was mature and skilled enough to walk in that calling, so his pride cost him a lot of suffering and it took much longer for him to be promoted to his calling.
These two ideals led me to being a passive adult, just showing up for a job I hated, feeling miserable, alone, and purposeless, and blaming myself for the fact that God hadn’t opened the door to the calling that would finally be fulfilling.
Along the way, in my 30s, I was introduced to the concept of being “co-creators” with God, rather than just servants.
This concept can be found in the beginning of Genesis when God created a garden and put humans in that garden, but then He tasked them with learning and cultivating and experimenting and developing it. The rest of the earth was wilderness, which meant that humans had a paradise starter kit that they could extend to the far reaches of the earth in whatever manner they chose.
He would walk with them in the cool of the evening, which is where I imagine they’d discuss what the humans learned and attempted that day. It’s like when I homeschool my children and we meet at dinner time to discuss projects, assignments, cool new historical facts, etc. They get to share with me and it’s a joy to partake in this journey they’re on.
Being created in His image implies that we resemble Him. And God was first known as Creator. So the idea I contemplated was this calling to be in an ongoing relationship with God where we commune with each other and discuss what we’re doing, but we also spend time being the representation of God on earth without Him holding our hands.
So this concept makes room for God to have given each of us raw talents but also free reign to develop those and give them expression in creative ways that we experiment with. That concept has become more and more reasonable and welcome to me over time.
That’s a general summary of where I’m coming from.
That makes sense. It seems that a lot of Christians believe in living and teaching a kind of guilt-lifestyle: "If you do this, God will frown upon you". "If you don't do this, He will reject you". This seems engrained in much of our culture. I definitely struggle with right vs. wrong all the time, and have a lot of rules for myself and the world. But life seems a lot easier without a bunch of rules. At the same time, they have a place, I think.
The reason I mentioned that was because I had this notion recently: There are many thoughts and beliefs that I have, that do not serve me. In fact, they really suck the life out of me. I've also been considering how to know if it's God's voice that I hear inside. I don't know if my thoughts are God's voice or my own (I suspect they are probably my own). I can talk to God, but how do I know if/when he speaks back?
I had a thought though - that it's possible that anything negative and defeating that comes into my mind is likely not from God, as God intends to uplift & inspire, not to scorn and reject. It's helped me to let go of a lot of my own rumination, because I realize that those are not useful thoughts. From a non-religious standpoint, you could say I'm just leaning into a positive mindset over my previously negative and harsh one, and away from my tendency to self-flog. But I'm kind of new to these questions.
Those are significant, meaningful topics. It sounds like you’re contemplating essential issues.
I sacrificed what makes me come alive immediately after college to appease my father’s principle that a man should be able to financially provide for his fiancé before they marry.
Within a 4-5 years I was earning too much to start over and I was miserable in my career path.
As for what God wants, that’s an excellent question whose answer may shift and evolve in your mind over time.
I’ll share more about that in a second reply later today.
That quote: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive, because what the world needs are men who have come alive” strikes a chord in me. It reminds me of what I've been pondering lately about the difference between being externally motivated and being selfish.
It's been a big theme in my life. I've always done whatever I needed to survive, even if it meant sacrificing myself endlessly in the process. But this causes other issues: For one, at its essence, it's a fake way of living, and people pick up on that. People don't gravitate toward people who are just doing what they think is expected of them. But at the same time, they don't gravitate toward people who are too self-absorbed either.
It reminds me of reading Osho. He said that people need to be more selfish. It opened my eyes for a time, as I read it, as it seemed backwards, but the premise clicked at the time. I remember talking with someone about how I didn't like my job, and realizing that in my core, I believed that jobs were simply not-for-liking. "Work sucks everywhere" was my thinking. I worked at the time at a major defense contractor, which was supposed to be a prestigious accomplishment, but it was honestly the worst job I ever had. Why even try to find a new job? That was just the way the world was, so just suck it up and bury your wants and desires.
I've only recently begun to consider what God wants for me. I can't imagine that he intends for me to needlessly suffer. Perhaps it's quite the opposite - God can give one permission to do what they can to be happy.
I want to discuss this topic: "I've only recently begun to consider what God wants for me. I can't imagine that he intends for me to needlessly suffer. Perhaps it's quite the opposite - God can give one permission to do what they can to be happy.”
I grew up at a charismatic Christian church that believed in miracles, healing, prophecy, tongues, etc. I took 2 life lessons from my time there that I believe significantly derailed my potential for a contented life:
1. The belief that God has a perfect will for my life in virtually every moment, and that I can only walk in that if I’m attuned to the whisper of his voice at all times. This means that if I feel a compulsion to talk to a stranger about Jesus and I don’t act on it, I have deviated from the path. A bit like the Marvel Cinematic Universe Timelines. Each act of what I considered to be disobedience created an alternate timeline that led me away from a portion of God’s perfect will for my life.
So that was a mess that I struggled with for years and years. It led to accepting a mindset that I was perpetually outside the realm of God’s will for my life, which would lead to misfortune, sickness, hardship, whatever.
2. The belief that believers are supposed to wait on the Lord to be called, and then continue to serve faithfully until they are sent.
In this worldview, God calls each person to a function, like a piece of machinery in the great machine of humanity. Like Joseph in the Old Testament, he was given a glimpse of that purpose but he made it his identity before he was mature and skilled enough to walk in that calling, so his pride cost him a lot of suffering and it took much longer for him to be promoted to his calling.
These two ideals led me to being a passive adult, just showing up for a job I hated, feeling miserable, alone, and purposeless, and blaming myself for the fact that God hadn’t opened the door to the calling that would finally be fulfilling.
Along the way, in my 30s, I was introduced to the concept of being “co-creators” with God, rather than just servants.
This concept can be found in the beginning of Genesis when God created a garden and put humans in that garden, but then He tasked them with learning and cultivating and experimenting and developing it. The rest of the earth was wilderness, which meant that humans had a paradise starter kit that they could extend to the far reaches of the earth in whatever manner they chose.
He would walk with them in the cool of the evening, which is where I imagine they’d discuss what the humans learned and attempted that day. It’s like when I homeschool my children and we meet at dinner time to discuss projects, assignments, cool new historical facts, etc. They get to share with me and it’s a joy to partake in this journey they’re on.
Being created in His image implies that we resemble Him. And God was first known as Creator. So the idea I contemplated was this calling to be in an ongoing relationship with God where we commune with each other and discuss what we’re doing, but we also spend time being the representation of God on earth without Him holding our hands.
So this concept makes room for God to have given each of us raw talents but also free reign to develop those and give them expression in creative ways that we experiment with. That concept has become more and more reasonable and welcome to me over time.
That’s a general summary of where I’m coming from.
That makes sense. It seems that a lot of Christians believe in living and teaching a kind of guilt-lifestyle: "If you do this, God will frown upon you". "If you don't do this, He will reject you". This seems engrained in much of our culture. I definitely struggle with right vs. wrong all the time, and have a lot of rules for myself and the world. But life seems a lot easier without a bunch of rules. At the same time, they have a place, I think.
The reason I mentioned that was because I had this notion recently: There are many thoughts and beliefs that I have, that do not serve me. In fact, they really suck the life out of me. I've also been considering how to know if it's God's voice that I hear inside. I don't know if my thoughts are God's voice or my own (I suspect they are probably my own). I can talk to God, but how do I know if/when he speaks back?
I had a thought though - that it's possible that anything negative and defeating that comes into my mind is likely not from God, as God intends to uplift & inspire, not to scorn and reject. It's helped me to let go of a lot of my own rumination, because I realize that those are not useful thoughts. From a non-religious standpoint, you could say I'm just leaning into a positive mindset over my previously negative and harsh one, and away from my tendency to self-flog. But I'm kind of new to these questions.
Those are significant, meaningful topics. It sounds like you’re contemplating essential issues.
I sacrificed what makes me come alive immediately after college to appease my father’s principle that a man should be able to financially provide for his fiancé before they marry.
Within a 4-5 years I was earning too much to start over and I was miserable in my career path.
As for what God wants, that’s an excellent question whose answer may shift and evolve in your mind over time.
I’ll share more about that in a second reply later today.