Two quotes have had me thinking lately:

“We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires and interests, and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them. Many of them may be right, noble, and good, and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime God must cause their importance to us to decrease. . . His only goal is to produce saints.” Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest”

Susanna Wesley penned a similar thought another way in a letter to her son John, “Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.”

Both of these authors point out a very important point: There are things in our lives that may in and of themselves be noble or innocent, but if they are in any way diminishing our sensitivity to following God’s leading, or decreasing our desire to be more like Him, then they must be surrendered.

Good is not always best.

Is there good in my life that needs to be given up for the best?