If This Were a Perfect World...

What comes to your mind when you think of a perfect world? Many of us would probably think of things like peace, love, harmony; the quality of our relationships having the most importance.

Here is the irony. We live in a society that promotes self-centeredness. We all have an idea of how we want to be treated by others. We consider it our right and we'll fight for that right regardless of how it affects the 'rights' of others. And so our life becomes a string of struggles to bring everyone alongside us in our efforts to make ourselves happy. We can either become arrogant and intolerant of those who do not play the game our way or we can become self-protective with all our defenses up to keep people out if they don't play the game our way. Either way, it's about what we need; we want. Like Toby Keith's song "I want to talk about me, me, me, me".

It's a subtle thing but for a society that longs for peace and harmony - we certainly go about it in a funny way. Everyone knows its hard to get along with someone who is thinking primarily of themselves in everything they do. We can spot it so easily in others and it offends us. And so we live in constant conflict and turmoil knowing that there must be a better way.

And then we meet our Creator and learn something about ourselves. We learn that we are as proud and self-centered as all those around us. We want our way. We want to be happy. We want joy. We want to have good relationships. And Jesus tells us to give it all up and trust Him to meet the needs we have. Huh? We are now to live as if others are more important? We are to serve others? We are to treat others as we would like to be treated rather than insist that others treat us like we would like to be treated? We are to submit? We are to obey?

Submission. Obedience. Humility.

Self-reliance. Independence. High self-esteem.

Which set of words appeal to us? We cannot have a relationship with God without the first set. It is because He is God and because He loves us that we can trust Him with complete abandon. And as we allow ourselves to be loved by Him, He transforms us - one day at a time; to be more selfless and more dependent on Him; to learn to love like He does; to be like Him. And that is the secret to fulfillment, joy and peace unlike anything this world knows. Our Creator knows us. He loves us. He enables us.

If we pursue fulfillment, happiness, contentment, peace, healthy relationships then we find disillusionment, conflict, and the pain of dysfunctional relationships.

BUT if we submit to God's love, all of the things we long for, happen; a byproduct of fulfillment, happiness, contentment, peace, healthy relationships with those around us.

If this were a perfect world, we'd all live in close relationship with God and with each other. Oh yeah, that's what heaven is all about.