Good and Shame

"If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures." 

— Musonius Rufus (via. James Clear)

• Things that matter are hard, whether they're good for us or good for others. 

• Art is hard. Sometimes I say I make things for fun. Sometimes it is fun. Most of the time it’s hard. I think I’m really just trying to do it for the good that endures.

• It’s the poor who gain the kingdom of God. It’s the hungry who are satisfied. It’s the weeping ones who will laugh. It’s the ones who are hated and excluded and reviled and called evil because they love and follow Jesus who will leap for joy and receive great reward in heaven. Some hard things we endure our whole lives waiting to receive the promise of good to come. (Luke 6:20-23)

• Take a moment to lament fleeting pleasures gained shamefully. Lament the shame that endures. Grieve. Repent. Now go meditate on this:

“When Satan tempts me to despair,

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look, and see Him there

Who made an end of all my sin.  

Because the sinless Savior died,

My sinful soul is counted free;

For God, the Just, is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.”

— Before the Throne of God Above by C. L. Bancroft

• Good and shame can outlive you. What are you passing on?

I ran out of time to spend too many words making a point. These are the points I had.