Kuolachalie Seyie
Know thyself. Truly knowing ourselves with proper understanding of our limitations, capabilities and meaning of life is the basis for truth and positive human growth. As Socrates said, ‘A life not examined is not worth living.’ We utterly hate lies and corruption. However, on closer examination, each of us may be found practicing corruption and lies of one form or another. As a consequence of this culture, we are too quick at creating problems to our very own selves through our casual attitude, disregard for values, principles and disrespect for selfless genuine leaders of today, thereby becoming stumbling blocks to any positive change in our society. What is worse, such disregard breeds day by day and we slowly but surely grow poorer in originality, dignity and integrity.
A morally loose man is a slave of immorality. He will betray his people and land and miss life’s purpose and the divine direction. This is one of the reasons for the nightmare of our multiple problems of politics, economy, religion and society, which remain adamant to any solution. Thus today, we are slaves to the very fruits of our own immorality in many areas of our lives.
Jesus said, ‘Their father is the devil’ (John 8: 44). The Jews who had gloried in the claim that they were children of Abraham, were devastatingly confronted with this severe charge by Christ that they were children of the devil. We too must check ourselves today because our conduct reveals our true kinship either with Abraham or the devil. Let us examine where we stand.
God is sincerely interested in solving our every problem. Christ said, ‘If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth (remain in the truth) and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:31-32). Paul also said, ‘You wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching…you have been set free from sin’ (Romans 6 :17-18). Thanks be to God, for the true Christian has been freed from slavery of sin and lies by the blood of Christ.
There is always a knock on the door of our conscience which is the divine invitation to serve fellow humans with honesty, purity, love and unselfishness – a purpose much bigger than ourselves and a vision and proposition for a new world built in accordance with divine standards. However our refusal to respond to the call is the major problem of the day. The interest in our career, material security and temptations to self – interest and indulgence always ranks above the divine invitation that revolves us in a cycle of greed which leads to nowhere that in the end, our state is similar to confinement to a large pot. You cannot call free such a man whose pleasures rule over him.
The first US President, George Washington said, ‘It is impossible to govern rightly without God and Bible.’ It is indeed impossible to rightly manage self, family, society or the government without the truth of God and the Bible. America was built with God and the Bible; she shall have to return to God and the Bible in order to redeem herself from her grave problems such as 37% fatherless children, 62-75% divorce rate, a debt of 14 trillion USD, and high rate of crime and immorality.
The Gospel is the truth and the truth shall set you free. Where the Gospel goes, salvation, health, education, prosperity and life fulfillment go. A professor of sociology and his team did a research on 200 poor children in the slums of Baltimore, Maryland, the largest city in the USA. Their study declared that these children had no future as they could not afford education, sanitation and basic amenities for survival. But later studies after 25 years revealed results of absolute contrast, as these children grew up to be surprisingly and exceedingly successful. 176 of them became doctors, engineers, professors, lecturers, lawyers, renowned businessmen, etc; only 4 of them went to jail or were found missing and twenty had died. The secret, they found, was a God-fearing teacher who relied greatly on the Bible, who took them under his wings and committed himself to the task of securing their future. This story is a clear lesson that the truth sets us free from bondage of ignorance, poverty, diseases, crime and sin.
In His service is perfect freedom. It brings us freedom from sin and fear; we are never to walk alone. In the company of our best friend and counselor Christ Jesus, sin and fear are non-existent. It also brings us freedom from self and gives us the ability to stay true to one’s convictions. Our greatest enemy is our own self. However the impossibility to control and change the self becomes possible by His power and presence, and we are re-created anew. It also brings freedom to others through us by the truth of God that enables us to be persons doing what we ought to be in Christ and we become most powerful force in other’s lives. “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
