One of the core values at my church, Community Church @ Western Branch, is: Live fully alive. What exactly does this mean? One of my favorite Bible verses is a quote from Jesus in the Gospel of John. It’s “I (Jesus!) have come to bring you life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 NIV.
I read recently that psychologists have begun to speak of what is perhaps our biggest mental (and spiritual)health problem in our culture today. They call it “FTT,” which means “Failure To Thrive.” When a person has it they’re still able to function, but they seemingly have lost their sense of hope and meaning in their life. Interestingly, FTT isn’t the presence of a mental/spiritual illness, it’s the absence of mental, spiritual and emotional vitality.
In ancient lists of the “7 deadly sins” it was called acedia, which means “weariness of soul and inability to delight in life.” It’s exactly why Jesus looked out over a crowd of people gathered around Him; people who had broken marriages and dead-end jobs… and a feeling inside them that “I have no joy” and proclaimed that verse: “… I have come to bring you life… and life in its fullest!”
God knows what you are going through. Like those dry bones in the Book of Ezekiel that God made come alive in front of Ezekiel, God… through His Holy Spirit… can make you come alive again too. And, help you to thrive!
Paul said in the Book of Ephesians… talking about Believers and the church… that, in Christ, “the whole body builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” That’s saying that the parts of the Body help each other in the growing process. Unity and maturity are notmutually exclusive! One builds up the other just as one of us builds up another!
God wants you to to flourish so that others can be encouraged by you and thus… they can write music, help sick people and churches can thrive in ways they otherwise couldn’t. Get out of your comfort zone and get into the water. I absolutely love the lyrics of the Hillsong United song, “Oceans!” It goes: “You call me out upon the waters; the great unknown where feet may fail. And there I find You in the mystery, in oceans deep… my faith will stand.” Check it out… you’ll love it!
