Preferences, Part 1

(an introduction to a series having to do with preferences and convictions, and how they affect our lives...)

I've told several people this story over the years, and even though it's been 10 years since it happened, I still get a little choked up. It's one of those "I wish I had..." memories. The memory of a regret that I can do nothing about, except learn from it.

The day I graduated from college, I remember sitting on the corner of my bed and crying. It had sort of hit me all in one moment that I had sacrificed something in college for the sake of something else. See, there had been a turning point for me religiously, if you will, the end of my freshman year, where God had changed my heart in regard to a certain Biblical doctrine. After this change, I started to separate myself from the friends I had up to that point, merely because they were on the opposite side of the fence in this doctrinal issue.  My excuse was simply that I wanted to associate with like minded people, have deeper conversations, etc. But reflecting upon it three years later, I knew I had been wrong.

The newfound belief was good; I believed it with all of my heart. But in reality, I was judging my friends for not having the kind of knowledge I had. And I started to see them not as people to love and grow with, to toss ideas around with, to challenge, to encourage; I saw them as getting in the way of my own growth, and I saw them in some ways as lower than myself spiritually, because they hadn't come to the same revelation.

And more than that, I realized I had elevated a personal conviction above my love for Jesus. My life was more about the conviction itself, and less about Jesus; spreading my love for Jesus, and obeying His call to love God, love others, and go make disciples.

more to come....