INDEPENDENCE

Independence. I kinda hate it. I mean, I love it when it's me doing it, but I hate it when everybody else is doing it. We are far too independent and we end up calling it a virtue.

It's what we trained our three daughters to do from Day One. At some point we stopped holding the bottle and they did it; we stopped waddling behind them as they wobbled on shaky legs across the room; we stopped tying their shoes so they could; we stopped running behind the bicycle so they wouldn't fall; eventually we turned over the car keys . . . until they were fully independent. It seemed like the right thing to do.

But as a child, I was also told that I have no gifts, talents, possessions or abilities that weren't given to me by God - that everything I am came from Him and apart from Him I couldn't do anything.

For me, it was (and is) a hard pill to swallow. Why? Because I have an unhealthy streak of independence coursing through my arteries - as well as through other parts of me. My flesh, my pride, is in a constant state of rebelling against this truth and much of the Christian walk is bringing your self into DEPENDENCE and obedience to the will of God. I am my own worst enemy and without Christ I am eternally lost.

"I have an unhealthy streak of independence coursing through my arteries."

It seems the Bible is decidedly against independence from page one - not only independence from God, but from others. Christian growth has long been a relationship between someone who has something to learn and someone who has something to share - and you're not always the same person in that scenario.

That dependent kind of relationship accelerates growth more than sitting in a quiet room independently, poring over DVDs and books on Christian living. This isn't 'solo' work we're doing. The God-life is impossible apart from other people - and apart from Him.

Shake off independence.

And be blessed.