You know those moments when you’re out to lunch with a friend at a Vietnamese restaurant and you get to talking about your compulsive tendencies of being defensive and combative, and then your friend reminds you of how an older, wiser, mutual friend is always harping on the vital importance of never defending yourself? Well that’s what happened to me on Wednesday. It was fantastic!

After lunch we got in touch with the older, wiser, mutual friend and he reminded us that the “Never Defend Yourself” vow is situated in a set of 5 vows (The 5 Vows for Spiritual Power) developed and published by Aiden Wilson Tozer, which are: deal thoroughly with sin, never own anything, never defend yourself, never pass anything on about anybody else that will hurt them, never accept any glory.

I will tell you that I naturally LOVE the opposite of all these vows!

Which makes me wonder…

I wonder if, and how, I will ever oppose what comes naturally to me?

:::

Abraham Lincoln was able to get some stuff done during his days on this planet. How did he do it?

Storytelling!

Where did A.L. get his methodology?

God.

God is a storyteller.

God changes people via storytelling (see Luke 16:29-31). God ordains that we contract healthy habits by hanging around supernatural stories.

For example, if you hang around the story of David (1 Samuel 18-31) you will be rigorously exposed to all kinds of stories of abuse, manipulation, injustice, slander, genocide, faithlessness, passive-aggressive behavior, fake apologies, faux repentance, etc. – all arising from an intense hatred aimed at David – harbored deep in the heart of his father-in-law and human boss. And through all these stories you will be subversively overtaken by the workmanship of God in the soul of David, as you acquire an increasing amount of awe for the fact that David is truly friends with God! David is a man who – – – > deals thoroughly with his sin (see 1 Samuel 25:32-25); lives like a vagabond in the wilderness (i.e. never owns anything); never defends himself …even though he is the primary target of a relentless (and extremely well-financed) national smear campaign; never passes anything on about anybody else that will hurt them (see 1 Samuel 24, 26); and never accepts any glory (2 Samuel 1).

What’s the application (or “So What?”) of this blog post – – – > read 1 Samuel and then strike up a conversation with whoever is eager and able to talk about it with you!