The Supreme Five: When Marcus Aurelius Meets Jesus Christ
The New Testament speaks about the power of the Lord Jesus helping us and the Holy Spirit being present within us and God working for good all around.
Season 8, Episode 4 · The Supreme Five - When Marcus Aurelius meets Jesus Christ
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The story behind the idea
You can't control the weather or politics or illness, opponents, delays, public opinion. Very little of that can be moved by you, but you can govern your judgment, your attitude, and your response. He trained himself to say, quote, external things cannot touch my soul unless I let them.
What stands out
I think what's more pressing for me is you begin to rely too much on your own power. The New Testament speaks about the power of the Lord Jesus helping us and the Holy Spirit being present within us and God working for good all around us. Yes, work on what you can control, but also know that there are limitations to what you can do on your own. So it's a little bit less just control everything you can control and more trust God in all things in your life.
Why it matters
I'm accepting that challenge by mastering, point one, what I can control through prayer, and two, just making sure that it's about someone or something outside of self. Speaking of outside of self, and a credit in some ways to Marcus Aurelius' approach to life, number three is be charitable toward people.
A faithful way forward
You seeing challenges as chances for us as Christians to demonstrate faith in God and to show people what Jesus would do, and it's less about throwing up our hands like everything's falling apart. You'll stop feeling cheated by difficulty or comparing yourself to other people, unless maybe you compare yourself to someone who has less hardships and feel sorry for them that they're not getting the training that you are.
Put it into practice
God is way too big, and I am putting those things aside. It doesn't mean I disregard people altogether, but it does mean I've got to live my life for the Lord.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What idea from this study most needs my attention right now?
- 02Where does this challenge the way I am currently thinking or living?
- 03What is one faithful step I can take this week?
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