八福
伟大的榜样!
经文
马太福音十一28-30
28凡劳苦担重担的人可以到我这里来,我就使你们得安息。
29我心里柔和谦卑,你们当负我的轭,学我的样式;这样,你们心里就必得享安息。
30因为我的轭是容易的,我的担子是轻省的。
信息分享
今天的经文是耶稣的一句名言,相信几乎每一位基督徒都知道。到底,这句说话当中的真理如何能给我们带来良好的心理健康?心理健康毕竟不只是一个医学名词,它是一个超越医院的围墙、医生的诊所,适用于家庭、教会以及日常生活的观念。
心理健康是关于人际关系的力量和其中的调整,即是我们处理焦虑、敌视和挫折等问题的方式。一位权威人士指出:「心理健康与平凡人的日常问题有关,可以帮助他们解决困难,或者在不能解除时勇敢地面对。」耶稣所说的话能够给我们带来良好的心理健康,那是因为它鼓励我们脱离强求的态度,如:「事情应该按照我的意思进行」,「我应该有考虑的空间」,「别人应该尊重我的权利」等等。
有一位心理学家甚至说,如果我们可以从自己的词汇和内在态度中删除「应该」与「会」这些字眼,我们便可以在一夜之间蜕变。当然,他不是指神放在我们心里、要求我们顺服正确事情的道德准则,如「我不应该说谎」,「我应该做正确的事情」等等,而是指强求的态度,例如坚持自己的权利,漠视其他的顾虑。精神和情绪疾病的其中一个最大成因是强求和过分关注的态度。说到这里我们还会不会提问说,为甚么基督要恭喜那些温柔的人,并应许他们能够承受地土?
「脱离强求的态度」
进深研究
林后十1-18,十一18-21;腓四11-12
1. 保罗为甚么能够刚强壮胆?
2. 保罗怎样强调软弱和温柔之间的分别?
祈祷
亲爱的主耶稣,我祈求您释放我,让我能脱离强求的灵,这灵指使我坚持自己的权利,不愿意为人放弃自己的利益。求您帮助我背起你的轭,专心向您学习。阿们。
The Beatitudes
What an example!
Bible reading:
Matthew 11:28-30
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Message
Today we ask ourselves: What is there about this famous saying of Jesus which engenders good mental health? Mental health after all, is more than a medical term. It is a concept that goes beyond the walls of a hospital or a doctor's clinic and applies also to the home, the church and the world of everyday living.
Mental health is concerned with the dynamics of relationship and adjustment - the way we handle such things as anxiety, hostility and frustration. "Mental health," says one authority, "concerns itself with the everyday troubles of everyday people - helping them to solve their problems or face them bravely when they cannot be warded off." The statement of Jesus we are focusing on at the moment contributes to good mental health because it encourages us to be free from the attitude of demandingness – the attitude that says: "Things must go my way", "I ought to have some consideration", "People should respect my rights."
One psychologist goes as far as to say that if we could eliminate the shoulds and the woulds from our vocabulary and our inner attitudes, we could become transformed people overnight. He was not referring, of course, to the moral compass which God has placed within us that cries out for obedience to that which is right ("I ought not to lie", "I should always do right", and so on) but to the attitude of demandingness that insists on having one's rights irrespective of any other considerations. One of the biggest causes of mental and emotional illness is the attitude of demandingness and over-concern. Do we wonder any longer why Christ congratulates the meek and promises them the earth?
"Be free from the attitude of demandingness"
Prayer
Blessed Lord Jesus, deliver me, I pray, from a spirit of demandingness that insists on having my rights rather than being willing to give them up for the sake of others. Help me to take Your yoke upon me and learn from You. Amen.
Further study
2 Corinthians 10:1-18; 11:18-21
Philippians 4:11-12
1. Why could Paul be bold?
2. How did Paul highlight the difference between weakness and meekness?
本文英文版权属 CWR 所有,承蒙允准刊载。
背景音乐版权属 赞美之泉音乐事工 所有,承蒙允准使用。

