Some of the most comforting words in the universe are “me too.” That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle, that you’re not alone, and that others have been down the same road.
– Rob Bell, SexGod
Some of the most comforting words in the universe are “me too.” That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle, that you’re not alone, and that others have been down the same road.
– Rob Bell, SexGod
well…i don’t know really what i think about this statement. Because the tendency of mankind is to justify our struggle with stuff. For instance the big thing right now is said like this, ” The desires for immorality and wickedness are actually what you were made for and the Christians just find excitement in trying to deny there natural desires….” As the restrainer is lifted and God gives men their desires of their hearts they will look for other “me too’s” to say this must be normal. I believe that men ARE NOT the people we want to hear that from. We want to hear that from Jesus. He was tempted, and overcame. He has all power over everything and He is ultimately the guy that can change us and empower us. Now i know it happens and in my own human instincts i try to find someone else who has the same struggle or some godly man and actually probably secretly say….well see… he’s anointed and struggles with this or that so im good. It is never good to compare yourself horizontally. We have to compare ourselves vertically with GOD and let Him be the one to pull us out of our vomit 🙂 or cancer. which ever is more disgusting 🙂 haha this quote might be talking about something totally different bc i have context thats what i got 🙂
This quote unsettles me a bit. Most of humanity understands the weakness that resides within. If you believed the lie that you were the only person in the earth who struggled with an issue, this would be amazing — a revelation. But that’s not the case.
If you had cancer and someone else had cancer next to you, it’d be notable but wouldn’t give power to overcome it. In fact, looking at each others weakness in comparison can actually make you passive and feel good that everyone else is sick as well.
Focusing on the One whom can cure all diseases — liberate mankind from all sorts of sin — that’s where I would have my attention rest.
The most comforting words I can think of in light of the topic is from Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus and not take comfort in each others weaknesses. It’ll take us down if we’re not careful.
Yeah I think you are both missing the emotional aspect of it. So often, humans feel like they are the only ones in the world who deal with _______. This causes them to hide in shame over their struggle and never face those issues that cause such hurt and pain. Maybe it’s based on a lie from their childhood, maybe it’s just a series of events that have made life unbearable… In any event, the feeling of aloneness in the journey is not an uncommon thing. What Bell was saying here was that there can come a point when we suddenly realize that other people do struggle with this issue. We realize it on a emotional heart level, not a cognitive “yeah I know that in my head” kind of a thing. And when we realize that others deal with the same stuff, it makes us feel less alone, more connected to others. Realizing that we are not as weird or messed up as we thought.
And yeah, keeping our eyes on Jesus, our ultimate counselor and healer, is paramount. He can take away that shame and heal our wounds, but the struggle can be so hard sometimes that we can lose sight of the reality that God is so in love with us and even in our weakness he finds us so amazingly lovely. Having that person we connect with who can say, hey man, it’s ok, you’re gonna make it – we’re in this together… that’s super important too.
I would agree with the point that community is important. James 5:16 is a great example of confessing our sins to one another so that we may be healed. Confession and restoration are critical to forward movement.
I guess as long as a person doesn’t call sin “good” and remain there because others are there too, I’m ok. That position can be a tendency and so I guess, in my previous comment, I’m guarding the line there.