On Natural Godliness

Several thoughts crossed my mind as I read Oswald Chambers’ August 21 devotion “The Ministry of the Unnoticed” from My Utmost for His Highest.  He writes, “. . . The true character of the loveliness that speaks for God is always unnoticed by the one possessing that quality. Conscious influence is prideful and unchristian. If I wonder if I am being of any use to God, I instantly lose the beauty and the freshness of the touch of the Lord. ‘He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:38). And if I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of the Lord. …If we are conscious of our influence, it ceases to have the genuine loveliness which is characteristic of the touch of Jesus.”

I can attest to the truth of this in my own life.  Excessive introspection eventually throws off my perspective and relationship with the Lord—and thus with other people.  This happens because introspection is self-centered, not God-centered.  When I focus on God, instead, the rest (acting right) comes naturally! 

However, the Lord doesn’t always transform ingrained habits of thought overnight; in such cases we may need to keep an eye on part of our inner self until we can trust ourselves to act or react in a godly way.  I would argue further that, on a few occasions, it does help to take a step back to reflect and re-evaluate ourselves from God’s perspective, just to check that no worldly lies have crept undetected into our thinking.  Generally, though, Chambers has the right of it: we need not monitor our inner self as constantly as some do (particularly introverts such as myself).

When I first read Chambers’ words, though, I couldn’t help but think that we’re human, and from time to time we do lose touch and act out of selfishness rather than love and obedience.  If we are conscious of these mistakes, but remain unconscious when we do right, won’t this produce poor self-esteem and despair of pleasing God? 

After some contemplation, I could see that if we remain introspective and only sporadically connected with God, this could be the result.  But with the ideal relationship that Chambers refers to, our focus would return to Christ after we repent of our error.  With our eyes heavenward, we would spare no thought to ourselves, good or bad.  Our self-esteem or self-perception (when the issue comes up) would be based on who we are in Him, not what we’ve done or not done. 

For people who are deeply concerned with the minutiae of their thoughts and actions, worried whether they’re doing enough to please God, triple-checking that their behavior comes across as properly loving and godly to other people, this message is freeing and simple: don’t tie yourself in knots; love and seek and obey the Lord, letting Him fill all your vision.  Then God’s loveliness will shine naturally—and unconsciously—from you onto those you interact with, no introspection required.

“What does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)