Sanctification + Desire

Sanctification is the refinement of desire, not the removal of it.  God wants to purify us and make us holy. He wants to take what is in us and refine it so that it becomes good and pure and true.  People fear sanctification because they think it is the removal or denial of desire. It is not. It is the refinement of it. It is to take what is unholy and to make it holy, to bring it into a state of goodness, love and life-giving wholeness.

When we seek God through Jesus Christ, He sanctifies our desires, making them pure and life-giving.

Grace vs. Boasting

Grace is greater than boasting. Grace supercedes boasting.  “For it is by grace we are saved by faith that no man may boast.”  Ephesians 3

Boasting is an egregious error.  

Humiliation is equally egregious.  We are neither great nor small.  Rather, we are nothing except for the grace of God which declares we are of great worth – because of the worth of Christ imputed to us through His righteousness, rightness, and rightly relatedness to God The Father, not ours.

Instead of self-boasting, Paul boasts in Christ. What would our lives, conversations, and relationships look like if we focused on boasting in Christ instead of ourselves?

The Seriousness of Lostness

I was thinking today about someone who did me wrong. They are a person who pretends to be kind, joyful and good. But underneath in their motives, their heart, their mind and spirit they are the opposite.    

They try to keep it hidden from others and think that they’re fooling others. But overtime people begin to see who they are. The person that I am thinking of is someone who caused serious problems in my life.     He committed a wrong against me.   When I didn’t want to be with that person anymore, he sought vindiction and retribution against me. To this day he continues to do so.

I found myself thinking about his lostness and how it harms me.     But then I thought about some thing that is a more profound and prevailing and concerning truth: his lostness brings undeserved punishment and cruelty into my life. But his lostness is more serious than the damage that it causes.

Think about that for a moment: people who are lost, vindictive and cruel act out of a heart of malice and at times even disguised rage.    The impact of their cruelty and malice the person they inflicted upon is significant, serious and severe.

But how much greater is the darkness they will face because of their lostness?  How much greater is the punishment they will face for their hate and malice?  

If they would turn their hearts toward God and the all-consuming love of Jesus Christ, if they would repent and choose life, how things would change. How they would change.     How the suffering they inflict on their victims would change.

So the question is will they repent? Only God and they know the answer to this question.

As my enemy continues his malice toward me without any remorse or a pennant sensitivity, I am reminded that even greater than the harm he is doing to me is the harm that will come upon him because of the darkness he is choosing – unless he repents and chooses to live in the light, to love in the light, and to be about the things of the light.

The Goodness of God

Is God good? What do you believe? Is God motivated by goodness? Does God seek our good?

Yes yes yes.

The question we need to ask is do we seek the good?

Seeking good is so life-giving and there’s no amount of seeking bad they can ever replace or supersede seeking the good.

When we seek the good it shines the light of life into our lives and our hearts and our minds. It causes us to radiate goodness. Why?

Because God is the giver of life and the fullness of life in Jesus Christ. And when we seek him and all that is good from him then everything else takes on a different patina and hue and aliveness because of Him, who He is and His presence with us. 

Trauma Trap

Have you experienced adversity or hardship that caused  you to feel stuck?  It felt as if others did not understand the magnitude of what you were going through.  They diminished it and told you to “get over it”.  But the wound was a deep gash, not a superficial grazing of your heart.  Superficial solutions will not heal it.  You need deeper healing.

Even as you pursue healing, it’s as if you left the moment but the moment never left you.  It’s still inside – and it feels like it happened yesterday.

This can happen when a person causes you harm and then goes on with their life as if nothing happened.  They say you are overreacting.  They tell you to get on with your life.  Yet they set a trap for you – and you know and they know you are ensnared in it.  It’s a Trauma Trap.  

They, being the cruel and menacing person they are, secretly delight in hurting you.  Causing you hurt and pain gives them pleasure.  They are truly sick.  But they tell you it’s your fault and your problem – not theirs.

Their blame and denial cause you to stay in the trauma trap.  

Well, it’s time.

It’s time to break free from the trauma trap they set for you.

It’s time to declare that you are made for more.

It’s time to be free.  

But you will be tempted to prove to them that they were wrong about you.  Don’t waste your time or precious energy..  They really don’t care about you. They just want to torment you.  This is what abusers, narcissists, and other toxic, harmful people do.

Be free.  Live free and prosper.  Pursue deeper peace, love and joy.  Don’t let them steal your joy or pollute your love.  You were not made to be in the bondage of a toxic person.  You were made to be free.

A.J. Seymour

A.J. Seymour is a Psychologist and Theologian who believes well-being is found at the intersection of psychology and spirituality and that one cannot know personal happiness and fulfillment without having a relationship with our loving God. A.J. Seymour completed PhD studies in Positive Neuropsychology and earned a Masters of Theology in Evangelism and Discipleship. 

A.J. Seymour coined the term Deeper Positivity and has made significant contributions to the field of Psychology through contributing Deeper Positivity and the Live Inspired approach to attaining fullness of life.

A.J. Seymour’s works are insightful, informative and inspiring. AJ believes we are created to live and enjoy the fullness of life in all its purity and goodness.  Learn more about the writings of A.J. Seymour at AJSeymour.com.