Rightly Ordered by Christ
Dear Cor Incensi,
Christ orders our ways and perfects our judgements. When we declare Christ our King and look to Him for our salvation, we may unconsciously still be following the ways of the world. Our natural inclinations are careless towards matters of good and evil when going about our days. We may even be quite busy and yet still careless. Our sovereign nature needs to awaken in order to judge matters and actions rightly. This sovereign nature awakens in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Scripture:
Ephesians 2:1-5 (KJV):
1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
1 Corinthians 2:12-14:
12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Spiritual Reading:
The Christian Life: Its Course, Its Hindrances, and Its HelpsbyThomas Arnold (1856)
Excerpt from “Lecture XVII. 1 Corinthians ii. 12.”*:
Where, then, is the great defect which yet continually makes our practical judgments quite wrong; which makes us, in fact, so often countenance and support evil, and discountenance and discourage good? First, it is owing to the spirit of carelessness. One of the most emphatic terms by which a good man is expressed in the language of the Greek philosophers, is that of [Greek: opdouiaos], "one who is in earnest." To be in earnest is, indeed, with, most of us, the same as to be good; it is not that we love evil, but that we are indifferent both to it and to good. Now, many of us are very seldom in earnest. By this I mean, that the highest part of our minds, and that which judges of the highest things, is generally slumbering or but half awake. We may go through, a very busy day, and yet not be, in this true sense, in earnest at all; our best faculties may, as it were, be all the while sleeping or playing. It is notorious how much this is so in the common intercourse of society in the world. Light anecdotes; playful remarks; discussions, it may be, about the affairs of the neighbourhood, or, in some companies, on questions of science or party politics; all these may be often heard; but we may talk on all these brilliantly and well, and yet our best nature may not once be called to exert itself. So again, in mere routine business, it is the same: the body may toil; the pen move swiftly; the thoughts act in the particular matter before them vigorously; and yet we our proper selves, beings understanding and choosing between good and evil, have never bestirred ourselves at all. It has been but a skirmishing at the outposts; not a sword had been drawn in the main battle. Take younger persons, and the same thing is the case even more palpably. Here there is less of business in the common sense of the term; the mind is almost always unbraced and resting. We pass through the good and evil of our daily life, and our proper self scarcely ever is aroused to notice either the one or the other.
But the worst of it is, that this carelessness is not altogether accidental: it is a carelessness which we do not wish to break. So long as it lasts, we manage to get the activity and interest of life, without a sense of its responsibility. We like exceedingly to lay the reins, as it were, upon the neck of our inclinations, to go where they take us, and to ask no questions whether we are in the right road or no. Inclination is never slumbering: this gives us excitement enough to save us from weariness, without the effort of awakening our conscience too. Therefore society, expressing in its rules the feelings of its individual members, prescribes exactly such a style of conversation as may keep in exercise all other parts of our nature except that one which should be sovereign of all, and whose exercise is employed on things eternal.
Not being, then, properly in earnest,--that is, our conscience and our choice of moral good and evil being in a state of repose,--our language is happily contrived so as that it shall contain nothing to startle our sleeping conscience, if her ears catch any of its sounds. We still commend good and dispraise evil, both in the general and in the particular. But as good and evil are mixed in every man, and in various proportions, he who commends, the little good of a bad man, saying nothing of his evil,--or he who condemns the little evil of a good man, saying nothing of his good,--leads us evidently to a false practical conclusion; he leads us to like the bad man and to dislike the good. Again, the lesser good becomes an evil if it keeps out a greater good; and, in the same way, the lesser evil becomes a good. If we have no thought of comparing good things together, if our sovereign nature be asleep, then we shall most estimate the good to which we are most inclined; and where we find this we shall praise it, not observing that it is taking up the place of a greater good which the case requires, and, therefore, that it is in fact an evil.
*Arnold, Thomas. “Lecture XVII. 1 Corinthians ii. 12.” The Christian Life: Its Course, Its Hindrances, and Its Helps, Project Gutenberg, 2024. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13151. eBook.
Weekly Fruit of the Spirit:
PEACE
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, KJV).
Spiritual Practice:
Take a moment to inventory - what do you feel the most at peace about? Least? Are these feelings rightly ordered, or are they disordered in any way? Are you at peace with things that are good and discontent with things that are bad?
Worship:
Hillsong, “Narrow Road - Hillsong Worship.” 2017, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcLwOMzwBs0. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
Pray
Heavenly Father,
There are so many ways in which I have been careless. Many of my days feel like I'm going through the motions of life, without really thinking about whether I am engaged in good and holy things. Please shine your heavenly light on my ability to discern right from wrong. Lead me along proper paths. Sweep me into the mindset you would have for me in Christ. Holy Spirit please watch over me and carry truth to my conscious understanding.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
Deo Volente,
KS