Apathy, in today’s society can be the death, spiritually and physically, of many people who succumb to it’s power in their lives. Yes, I sense the irony in saying apathy, which is defined as the absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement, can have any form of power. The two statements conflict each other. Based on its definition, the statement above about apathy made by Rollo May, renowned existential psychologist, confirms that in its truest form, apathy is the exact opposite in every way of love. Apathy is a destroyer because it takes good, hard-working people and turns them into sluggish animals that don’t have any sense of direction in their lives. It causes people to begin to slowly dissipate until they are nothing but skin and bones, with nothing worth anything going on in their lives. These are those that talk about all the things they plan to do with their lives, but due to their apathy will wallow in their own self-pity, and wonder what happened to their lives.
Love, especially that of God, means to be possessed by a reverent affection towards Him, and to become so overwhelmed with passion, zeal, and awe in His presence that we give up everything to follow Him and His will for our lives. Apathy comes into play when we let our sinful nature grab a hold of our hearts, turn to gratifying the desires of our flesh, and lose all semblance of a relationship with God in our lives. Apathy literally can kill your spiritual and physical life because you become too careless about everything going on around you, and all you are left with is yourself and your own desires. When you are left alone with only yourself, you have only yourself to rely on, so when nothing goes your way, all you become is depressed or angry and curse the God you claim allowed you to get this way. God had nothing to do with you getting this way, God is the ever flowing Water of Life, which continuously pours into those whom he created, it becomes our apathy which acts like a dam to his stream, and prevents his life-giving waters from quenching our spiritual and physical desires.
“A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing”- Proverbs 20:4
If God indeed is love, which all Christ-followers shall agree with (1 John 4:8), then those who are apathetic embody everything that goes against God. They are the people that take for granted everything that God has given them and provided them with, and they waste it away doing meaningless tasks in their daily lives to satisfy every desire that pleases them. This proverb hints strongly at the fact that those who lose all of their zeal for God and life, waste this life doing whatever they so please, but when the time comes where God prunes us by the good fruit our lives bore, the apathetic man will find nothing good, and will be thrown into the fire (John 15). When we waste this life we have been given so graciously by God, we are disgracing the Him, because we are intentionally turning away from his commands and desires for our lives, and theoretically “spitting in His face” claiming “I don’t need you, I do what I want.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be the one who so audaciously tells the almighty, omniscient ruler of the universe that my will and desires for my own life are better than His. Yet, constantly when I fall under the control of apathy what I am claiming is that, “yeah you’re a great God, but I’m gonna do what I wanna do, thanks for your input.” Just typing that pains me because I have to deal with the fact that daily I fall into apathy. We are given hope though, and that hope comes through our relationship with Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins, defeated death, so that all who believe in Him may have eternal life through our relationship with Him (AMEN!).
“And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”- Hebrews 6: 11-12
This passage right here is one of my favorites in the entire bible, because it gives us a reason and a purpose to turn away from the hold that apathy has on our lives. For those of you that deal with apathy (myself included), or who could not care less about your relationship with Christ (a place I have been before), pay attention to the raw power in Paul’s words right here. What Paul is explaining to all believers here is that we must allow ourselves to be transformed by the Saving-Grace of Jesus Christ, immerse ourselves in the Hope he has provided us, so that we can deny the apathy which tries to grab onto us, and endure the hardships of this life, through faith in order to inherit God’s promises. Just let that thought capture your mind: if we can turn to Christ, deny our own laziness and carelessness, we will ultimately be rooted in our faith in Him who gave everything for us, and ultimately endure this corrupt world and gain our perfection in God. God gave everything for us, so that we would not have to rely on ourselves anymore, LEGALISM IS GONE, IT IS ALL ABOUT CHRIST. IF YOU WALLOW IN APATHY, YOU ARE DOWN RIGHT MISSING THE PURPOSE OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICE.
Do not be the person who is constantly going about life their own way, then continuously drifts further away from God, and then one day sits around realizing their mistakes and regrets all of the time they spent pursuing earthly desires which got them nothing. There is no greater feeling on earth than being in a loving relationship with the God whom created you, and allowing his power and majesty to transform and enrich your life daily. Trust me, I have been on both ends of the spectrum, living in apathy gets nowhere but a meaningless existence and questioning of your purpose, we were given the grace of God so that we may no longer question what our meaning in life is. If you truly live a life for Christ, apathy will not stand a chance, but if you live a life of apathy, your relationship with Christ doesn’t stand a chance (not on God’s end, but on your end).
Remember, God gave up his son so that you can live an meaningful and purposeful life centered on His grace and love, we were never intended to live based on our own desires, that just proves we are still fallen. Rely on the one who has and will provide you with everything you need, do not rely on your finite wisdom and fallen nature to get you through this life. YOU DON’T STAND A CHANCE ALONE.
God Bless,
Trip Starkey
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