#16 Approving the Excellent

1:9b-10a real knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve the things that are excellent

As we grow in Christ and develop a mind that is more and more in line with His, we mature in our ability to evaluate the things of life in terms of the interests of Christ. This means that a regular part of the maturing process for Christians should be moments of realization that certain things have not been receiving the right amount of attention/affection: either too much or too little. We need to be rethinking everything according to the mind of Christ. What do we prize? What do we value? Are they the best things? Am I pleasing Christ by the things I choose to do? What are the things that I really enjoy? Are they the things that I really ought to be enjoying?

One good way to shed light on what we value is to take a look at our checkbooks and our schedules. What do we use our time and money for? Every penny and every minute we devote to something is a way of approving that thing. Are we approving what is excellent?

Some of us need to let go of some things, things which are not worthy of the approval of the children of God. God wants us to approve what is excellent. That means disapproving what is raunchy and what is vain and what is of no value. It is not enough to say that there is nothing wrong with such-and-such. In order for us to approve it, it must be excellent. This often means disapproving what is good when it is not what is best. The good is often the enemy of the best. God wants us to give our approval only to what is excellent.

To some extent, you know in your own conscience what things in your life and in your thinking are being approved that ought not be approved. But be very careful about this. "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked." (Jer.17:9) It is very easy to throw God the scraps, to plead guilty of a lesser charge, to give up something that is easier to give up but is not the main thing that we should give up. We all have things we approve that ought not be approved and things we don’t approve that ought to be approved. But often we are blind to them, and many times we would prefer to remain blind to them. And we are better at recognizing these off-based assessments in others than we are in ourselves. It is only the person who has a holy determination to be what God wants him to be, only the person who is willing to be a little ruthless toward himself, only the person who finds it more painful to know he is in spiritual slumber than to take the necessary steps to wake himself up, who will submit to the will of God in this.

This process doesn’t just happen naturally. It comes as a result of growing "in real knowledge and all discernment." There must be a process of learning that then bears fruit in the revamping of our lives. As we learn more of Christ and of His value system, we are constantly rearranging our lives to conform to His. This can be a painful process. It means dying to ourselves. It means giving up things that we love. But it means gaining far more than we ever give up.

Mark 10:29-30 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” (NASB)

Lord, forgive me for loving things that You do not love, for treating unimportant things as if they are very important. And forgive me for how casually I dismiss so many things that are very important to You. Mine is such a sleepy, comfortable, laid-back faith. I waste so much time, money and attention on things that have little or no eternal value. I have approved that which was not worthy of approval. I have rejected what was worthy of approval. Forgive me for trying to reconstruct a Christ that makes me comfortable. I want Him, but I want my worldly pleasures too. Have mercy on me! I have lived as if Christ was not all I needed. I have lived as if Christ was not the only source of life. I repudiate my love of ease, O Lord. I repudiate my reluctance to go all the way with Christ. I grieve over all I have wasted. Help me, dear Father. Help me to be filled with real knowledge and all discernment. Help me to approve the things that are excellent.