Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Identity

I started reading a book today called "The Beloved Disciple" by Beth Moore. I've read a couple of her books before in Bible studies but this is the first time I've attempted to read one on my own. As I said before, I'm very bad at starting certain types of books and then not finishing them. This book falls into that "hard to finish" category. It's a good book but it's one that I have to read a little and then mull it over. I technically could read it in a couple days but then I would have no clue what I just read and I want to actually get something from it.

So this might end up to be a type of book report. :) Today I read Chapter 1 and the thing that struck me the most was her comment about John the Baptist's (the book is actually about John the apostle but she hasn't gotten to him yet) definition of himself. In Beth Moore's words, "He (John) understood the greatness of Christ and how unworthy he was in comparison, but he didn't give himself the value of an inchworm under a rock".

I find myself thinking about balance lately and this really struck me. If I think too highly of myself, I'm not giving God the glory and I'm deceiving myself. If I think too little of myself, I'm not trusting in God's ability to use me. Lots to think about - I'm glad I stopped at chapter 1 for now.

2 comments:

sideshowsam said...

"I've read a couple of her books before in Bible studies but this is the first time I've attempted to read one on my own"

You can do it Angie.....reading is pretty easy - just soundoutthebigwords.

Angie said...

Thanks for the encouragement, Sam! :) I'm on ch. 5 now and it's going well. Next time I'll clarify that it's the accountability I struggle with, not the actual reading.