What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
MARK 8:36 – 37
A college friend of mine was one of those people who seemed to have a Midas touch — everything he touched turned to gold. Martin had a charisma about him; every person who met him was naturally drawn to him. He was the whole package: good-looking, athletic, very bright, a dynamic speaker. No one was surprised when he made law his career of choice and breezed through college and law school without needing to study much at all.
While Martin appeared to have it all together, we had many long talks throughout college about his desperate desire to be accepted by his father. He felt that nothing he did was ever good enough for his dad, and this was his biggest motivation for always being the best.
Upon graduation, Martin was courted by several prestigious law firms, all of which offered an unbelievable salary. It appeared that every part of his life was coming together perfectly. In only a few years, he was climbing the ranks within the company, becoming very wealthy, and being considered for promotion.
About that time, however, many of Martin’s colleagues developed a habit of getting “casually high” (as they called it), and with Martin’s desperation to be accepted and popular, it wasn’t long before his six-figure salary afforded him a full-blown addiction to cocaine. Soon he was finding it harder and harder to make it to work on Mondays, and almost as hard to wait until Friday to begin his drug binge. His wife wanted to start having children, but she was beginning to doubt Martin’s fidelity (and with good reason). On the day he found out that he didn’t get the promotion, he came home to find that his wife had left him and taken most of their possessions. Faster than it took to rise to the top, Martin’s life came crashing down around him.
The condition of Martin’s inner world was starting to be revealed by the collapse of his external world. It is always dangerous when our gifts take us to a place where our character cannot keep us.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Which would you say is stronger, your gifts or your fruit (character)?
Why do you think so?