Truths Defined
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8: 32
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a brilliant young man who committed his life to serve the Lord two years before Hitler came to power. Being unable to share his faith publically under the Fuhrer, he briefly sought asylum in America. He soon realized he should not forsake his fellow Christians in Germany and returned. He was imprisoned for opposing Hitler and proclaiming the gospel. There is much to be gained by assimilating truth as he saw it. Following are quotes of truth he espoused. They are worthy of our meditation and therefore adherence.
“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility… this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.”
“Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.”
“The first service one owes to others in a community involves listening to them. Just as our love for God begins with listening to God’s Word, the beginning of love for others is learning to listen to them. God’s love for us is shown by the fact that God not only gives God’s Word but also lends us God’s ear… We do God’s work for our brothers and sisters when we learn to listen to them.”
“May we be enabled to say ‘No’ to sin, and ‘Yes’ to the sinner.”
“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”
“Nothing that we despise in other men is inherently absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don’t do, and more in light of what they suffer.”
“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”
“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?”
“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.”
“Seek God, not happiness – this is the fundamental rule of all meditation. If you seek God alone, you will gain happiness: that is its promise.”
Pause and reflect on this heavenly wisdom. Contemplate it and commit to it.