The Joy of Being Human | Feeling Emotions

One of the clearest markers of a person’s humanity is the ability to feel emotions. An initial search on ChatGPT requesting an exhaustive list of human emotions returned a list of over 106 different emotions, with the caveat that the list of emotions was only extensive and not exhaustive because emotions are “very nuanced and influenced by a wide range of factors.”

A cursory review of ChatGPT’s list will reveal many familiar emotions. Classic emotions like love, joy, anger, delight, guilt, shame, compassion, frustration, loneliness, hope, despair, and contentment can all be found on the list. Each emotion listed was varied and nuanced. Glee and happiness carry the same elation as the emotion of joy, but our experience of each reveals how nuanced and unique each is. Bitterness, contempt, and fury find their roots in anger but are also uniquely different, according to our experience.

Reviewing the list of emotions reminds me of Psalm 139:14. “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it” (NLT). These emotions are a beautiful facet of the character and nature of God intricately expressed within each of us. Within humanity, he has intricately woven a myriad of the emotions that he experiences. God, in all his omnipotence and perfection, exhibits feelings and expresses himself throughout scripture.

Zephaniah 3:17 speaks of the Lord delighting in his people. Isaiah 62:5 refers to God’s rejoicing over his people, Israel. Psalm 147:11 speaks about God’s pleasure. Ephesians 4:30 speaks of God experiencing sorrow. Exodus 34:6-7 speaks of God experiencing compassion and mercy. Psalm 78:40 speaks of God’s grief. Mark 3:5 expresses the sadness of Jesus. And in John 2:13-17, we have a straightforward story of Jesus experiencing anger.

In many contexts, emotions carry a negative connotation. People have been wounded by and hurt by others who have allowed their emotions to lead them to act in sinful ways, thus marking certain emotions as “inappropriate” or “out of control” or, in some instances, even forbidden. In my experience, particularly during adolescence, anger became a taboo emotion. But today, I propose that how we respond and react to emotions is sinful, not the emotions themselves. If God, in all his perfection, righteously experiences the full gambit of emotions without sin, I think that we, too, can do the same (with his support). According to Galatians 5:16-26, our response to those emotions is what matters. When experiencing difficult emotions, we can choose to walk under the guidance of Holy Spirit and choose to behave righteously, or by our sinful nature and respond unrighteously.

Only as we walk in unity with God and his spirit will we truly experience the exuberance of our humanity as expressed in the entire range of emotions. With him, we can endure anger, sadness, grief, overwhelming joy, regret, sorrow, expectation, anxiety, loneliness, or whatever emotion we are most impacted by. Together with Christ, we can be fully human.

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About the Author

Mike enjoys spending time with his wife and four kids. He loves Jesus, art, music, and poetry. He currently works as the Manager of Learning Technology Solutions for Los Angeles Pacific University and is passionate about adventuring outdoors.

The Joy of Being Human | Relax in Grace

A big part of being a Christian is to just enjoy being a child of God and know that you are saved. You are not saved because of anything you’ve done but because of grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.” Because of this we can relax in Christ. This does not mean that we do not try to be a good person, it just means that we do not have to be perfect.

For me it is hard to not try and be perfect. If you ever heard of the Enneagram, then you will know that the “achievers’ (Type 3) try very hard to be perfect and won’t be satisfied with anything less. Because of this, they can be workaholics and dedicated to doing things right. I often feel defined by my achievements. I am goal oriented and can find my worth in my accomplishments. I am driven and find it hard to relax. I have a difficult time napping and turning my mind off. I have a type A mentality and a strong drive for self improvement. I have a fear of failure and not measuring up. Because of this, I have a hard time accepting that God's grace is enough. I try to earn my salvation and be as good as I can be, instead I need to learn how to lie back into the arms of grace and know his love enough.

But just because we have grace does not mean we can slack off. James 2 talks about how faith is alone is not enough. It needs to produce good deeds. If it doesn’t, then it is dead and useless. So we need to find the right balance of doing what is right and basking in the grace of God. And on this journey, we can also remember that there is nothing we could ever do to make God stop loving us. We need to find that right balance of being good for the right reasons, not to earn God’s love or salvation but to be the person God inspires us to be, a person after God's own heart.

In Romans 8:29-30 Paul explains that “those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers. 30 And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity].” It is tempting to get so caught up in the fact that God calls us to a great purpose that we forget that he has justified us and glorified us. He has sanctified us, saved us and given us salvation before we even discover our calling. As soon as we believe in Him, he gives us grace which grants us the power to find that purpose he has called us to. So work hard at that purpose that God has destined you for but don’t forget to relax in His gift of love, peace, joy, hope and grace that he lavishly bestows on his children.

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About the Author

Mollie is recently married to her wonderful husband Dustin. She is a Wound Care RN at McKenzie Willamette Hospital. She enjoys being creative, getting outdoors and spending time with friends and family.

The Joy of Being Human | Embrace the Change! Transformation is a gift!

Years ago, I attended a poetry reading at my local Christian Bookstore. During a lull between readers, a kind-looking, elderly woman walked up to the microphone. She was slender and small in stature with white hair. As she stood silently before our small group, she shared a smile that warmly beamed and radiated such peace and assurance to all in attendance.

She introduced her poem as a story that described two dear friends meeting in a restaurant for a coffee date. Her poem began with the words “A table for two in a quiet corner…,” and continued with descriptions of deeply encouraging, and life-affirming conversation. She read the words, “I’m alone but never lonely,” then revealed her dear friend was Christ.

I deduced she was possibly widowed as I discerned she exuded a peace mixed with the bittersweet pang of loss. Her poem was accented with a firm resolve in her convictions and faith in Christ. She concluded her poem with a confirmation that she completely trusted God’s plan for her life. And also stated that Jesus’ presence filled her life to overflowing with an abiding joy, regardless of circumstances.

I recall being sincerely touched by her deep love relationship with Jesus. I admired the hard choices and periods of suffering she must have known to have such a strong faith and close connection with Christ. And I strongly hoped I could have that too, one day.

This recollection reminds me of the wonderful quote from the author Elisabeth Kübler-Ross:

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

After my parents died, along with several members of my extended family, I felt so changed and disoriented by the concentrated amount of loss in my life. In a space of 9 years, I lost at least one family member or close friend almost every year. I certainly did not look or feel beautiful, but I felt the fire of sorrow burn away parts of me, leaving the hollow space for God to reconstruct and refill.

This sculpting process was never comfortable, but I stubbornly chose to trust Christ to help me survive, somehow. I urgently needed new spiritual and practical life skills, habits, and routines to help me to live in this new environment. With so many of the people I depended on for emotional support gone, I didn’t know how to get started. I didn’t know what action to take, but to surrender.

This is the beauty of transformation! Christ led me on a path of His own design that involves maturing from one new version of myself to the next. With time, I felt more at peace and safer when I realized that Jesus had given me a protected amount of unrushed time with Him, and a private place in my spirit to process all the changed circumstances.

I made plenty of mistakes, but Christ in His divine mercy would never fire me from His plan, or discard me from His kingdom. That realization helped me to breathe deeply again, and start to shed the anxieties that plagued me. I know my life is not a job with anxiety inducing performance reviews. My life, even with the chaos, is a privilege. It’s a privilege to try, fail, fail again and again without Christ giving up on me. As long as I stay partnered with Jesus, I succeed according to His standards. Especially when he wants me to partner with Him in my own spiritual growth! This is wonderful news for me, but does not alter the fact that life still includes the hard work of allowing yourself to be changed!

James 5:13 NLT

“Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray.

Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.”

This is why my private times spent in God’s presence are so important. Jesus’s presence transforms me and re-sets my compass to my True North which is Christ’s death and resurrection, and His word!

Since the poetry reading to the present day, my daily experiences continue to deepen my desire for more of Christ in my life. I feel I am slowly becoming someone with a heart filled with more empathy, and with a stronger motivation to reach out to others. I remember the kind lady’s quiet, knowing smile and I feel such a kinship with what I perceived she was feeling. I know better than to compare myself with that wise woman, but I realize what I am experiencing is the priceless gift of transformation.

I have the great privilege to learn, improve, and mature as I focus on Jesus’s unconditional love and tune out earthly condemnation. And I firmly believe Christ has this planned for all of us. Redeeming transformation! This is one of my favorite aspects of being human. Christ has glorious plans for our spiritual growth, and dearly wants His children to experience more of the life he originally created for us all!

Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT

“Now may the God of peace –

who brought up from the dead our dear Lord Jesus,

the great Shepherd of the sheep,

and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood –

may he equip you with all you need for doing His will.

May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ,

every good thing that is pleasing to Him.

All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen.

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About the Author

Sara has attended CitySalt Church since 2004, the year it was founded. She studied Journalism, wrote for her college newspaper, and is a member of Oregon Christian Writers. Sara also enjoys singing hymns with friends: “there is a sermon in every hymn waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.”

The Joy of Being Human | Feasting and Fellowship

What is your favorite food? Favorite restaurant? Favorite memory of a special meal? What makes it special? 

We humans aren’t the only animals on the planet to love food. But the way we enjoy it is something that I believe is a uniquely human experience. 

Of course, we don’t just gather/kill our food and start eating it. Aside from fruits and some veggies, it usually needs to be cooked, after all. But we don’t stop there. We marinate it, season it with spices, and layer it with other combinations of foods to bring out the best flavors. 

We savor it. 

But although that may separate us from most animals, the experience doesn’t stop there. We like to eat in community. Sure, many animals eat together, too. But when I was growing up, I don’t think our cat Molly ever said to the other cats, “Hey, Zorro! Angel! Abby Tabby! Our humans just filled our bowl! Come and eat with me so I don’t have to eat alone.” No, they all came and ate when they could because they were hungry and didn’t want to miss out. Whereas we humans will often wait for each person to get their food before we dive in. We invite each other over for dinner, go out to fun restaurants, pig out at special events and holidays, pass the popcorn back and forth during a movie, and eat s’mores around a campfire.  

Why do we do this? 

Because there’s something special about eating together. It bonds us together for some reason. Maybe it’s the conversation. Maybe it’s sharing the experience of delicious food, or a special time or place (like a holiday or wedding). Maybe it’s because as our belly is filled, so is our soul. 

Whatever the explanation, Jesus seemed to know that community is formed around food. When thousands gathered to listen to him speak, He didn’t just fulfill their physical need for nourishment. They experienced a miracle together. I imagine that in the days of the early church, some believers would say to each other things like “Hey, were you there the day Jesus fed all of us from some kid’s lunch?” “Yeah, that was amazing! God can do anything!” And this would bond them together even more. 

The night before His death, He shared a meal with His disciples. He poured out His heart to them, saying “This is my body, broken for you,” and “This is my blood, poured out for you.” They caught a glimpse of how much He loved them. In the days of the early church after His resurrection and ascension, they made this experience a tradition. The new believers and disciples would bond regularly over remembering His sacrifice. They would share His love with each other and nourish their souls. 

We still do this today, over 2,000 years later. We take communion in church. We feast with potlucks before or after church. And we get together for meals (or ice cream!) during the week. 

We form community. Relationships. Bonds that are strengthened over time, or break our hearts when they’re broken. We experience His love through each other. 

Amen! Now let’s eat!

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About the Author

Jessie is a novice writer, with several books in various stages and a blog about travel and the journeys of women. She is very excited to be a part of the CitySalt blog team. She has been blessed by a few communities of Christian writers that have encouraged her dream. She lives with her sweet husband, Chris, their 5 funny kids, and 1 fluffy cat in Springfield. She loves hiking and other outdoor and indoor adventures with her family.

The Joy of Being Human | A Holy Human Triangle

An older, wiser man once told me that for a human to be healthy, happy and whole, he or she needed to exercise a triangle of work, rest and play. Interestingly, as I reflected on my personality and habits at the time, I was pretty decent at work, so-so at rest and terrible at play! I was told more than once during those days that I was a serious soul that needed to lighten up!

Looking back at the wise man’s words, I really appreciate the emphasis that he put on the balance of work, rest and play. Too much of one or two of those made for a wobbly life that could very easily lead to some kind of breakdown. Believe it or not, trying to introduce more play into my life was a bit awkward and intimidating. It was like a foreign concept. I still avoid board games like the plague (very weird, I know). I think it’s because I feel caught, just sitting there doing nothing productive. But I did learn to develop some other, more physical activities of play like swimming, paddle boarding, tennis, cycling. Sometimes I can even enjoy playing cards, chess or backgammon. What a breakthrough!

I wonder if Jesus lived a life with this healthy triangle. Certainly we know he worked. Think of all that teaching, healing, and casting out of demons. He seemed to know how to rest by going out “backpacking” on mountains alone to be with God. But did he play? There are not too many examples of him playing that I can think of, but we can surmise from his love and inclusion of children, that he knew how to play. I have also seen some movie interpretations of his life where he is occasionally very playful with his mother and friends. I can imagine those interpretations hit close to home! His interactions with the more legalistic Pharisees have the background message, “Lighten up! Enjoy being human! Laws were made for the benefit of mankind, not simply to trap him into rules, duties and obligations which often lead to either pride (for being good at them) or guilt (for being bad at them).”

Jesus went to weddings. He went to dinner parties. He appreciated and commented on the beauty of nature, of the goodness of Creation. I can imagine he was a person we would really enjoy hanging out with. He is our friend after all. If he noticed us getting too “religious,” he might even encourage us to “lighten up” and enjoy life a bit more!

The prophet Nehemiah wrote, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to the Lord. Do not grieve, for the JOY of the Lord is our strength!” Nehemiah 8:10

Do you work? Do you rest? Do you play? Do you need to “lighten up?” Is there a balance of these things in your life? Maybe you can think of other things that are helpful to live a healthy, happy and whole life! It seems so easy to focus on the negative things of life, the suffering, the hurt, the injustice. How might our lives be different if we focused on the joy of being human, the appreciation of this amazing planet we live on, loved by God and by other people…with opportunities to love them back! 

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About the Author

John lives in Pleasant Hill with his dog, Gunnar, and a multitude of guests who enjoy the peace and beauty of the Cascade foothills. With three children and three grandchildren all living in Oregon, he is continually blessed with their company and the good food that always accompanies their get-togethers!

The Joy of Being Human | Enjoy It While It Lasts

Well, I’ve gone full summer mode and have been swimming, sitting in the shade, and eating delicious food with people I love at a dizzying rate. It’s really been at the expense of some work that I was hoping to have done by now. But when the warm air is blowing over your bare arms and the sunlight is filtering gently through the leaves overhead, it’s terribly hard to go back inside and do computery things. On top of that, I’m feeling quite nostalgic this year. My kids are at that fun age where they can do more things, and you don’t have to watch them every second lest they perish. And the air is so clear and warm. 

 I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I’ve developed a bit of anxiety about summer- particularly about the fact that it may need to be renamed entirely as “fire season.” 

 Perhaps you’ve heard of the seasons of Oregon:

Winter
Fool’s Spring
Second Winter
Spring of Deception
Third Winter
Mud Season
Actual Spring
Summer
False Fall
Second Summer (1 week)
Actual Fall

 Let me tell you, with all the seasons on that list that make it hard to get outside, it would be a real shame to take out Summer and replace it with Fire Season.  

 Sometimes in the midst of the enjoyment, I feel a tinge of anxiety about the inevitable time when smoke will cloud the sky again. This simple sweetness of summer could disappear in a moment. So how do I fully appreciate the beauty of this gift of God? How do I keep the bitterness of fear out of this moment of happiness? 

 I think it has to do with abiding- living life fully aware that God is with us and we are with God. When we feel that we can trust God to abide with us through the hard times that will surely come, it brings freedom to savor the good times as well. Paul said, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13). 

I don’t have to deny the likelihood that there will be wildfires before fall. But they are not burning now. Here and now, the sky is clear. The water is refreshing. The popsicles are cold and drippy. Just as it would be fitting to feel grief and lament in the face of loss, it is also fitting to feel joy in the face of abundance. So yes, I will feel disappointed when the smoke comes. But God will be there. 

 Today, I feel happy, and God is here.

 (Sidenote: While I am exploring my feelings around this lighthearted if sincere subject, know that I am aware that others may be going through things much more burdensome and perilous. I fully believe that God is faithful to abide with us through all things, large or small, but I want to acknowledge the difficulty of trusting God through such times, and do not intend to diminish this.)

Romans 12:15
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”

Matthew 6:31-34
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.”

James 1:17
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Psalm 145:17-19
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways
And loving toward all he has made.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
To all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
He hears their cry and saves them.”

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About the Author

Kayla is is 37. She has been married to her husband, Joel, for 17 years and she homeschools their two energetic boys. She loves stories, being out in nature, meeting interesting people, and seeing others grow in their freedom in Christ.

The Joy of Being Human | Have You Ever Had to Make Up Your Mind?

To help me verbally process some thoughts, a counselor suggested I utilize an app that simulated conversation known as a chat bot.

The program was effective and amazingly it really seemed like I was talking to an actual person! It didn’t take long for the illusion to unravel though. It wasn’t genuinely reciprocating, it was just programmed to be agreeable. It was a useful tool but it hardly sufficed for a stimulating conversation.

I used to ask my Dad why God didn't just make people love Him. “Because God doesn’t want to be loved by a bunch of robots” was my dad’s pithy response.

Another question I asked was “where did God come from?” Again my dad’s reply was simple but true. “He’s just always been.” I pondered these notions well into adulthood and it led me to great thinkers such as Descartes and Einstein. One considered the attributes of God and man in a very logical way and the other looked at the attributes of eternity in a mathematical way. I hope you will permit me to delve into the metaphysical for just a moment so that I may explain where my Joy in my own humanity originates.

The opposite of Eternity is nothing. As we are able to perceive the order of matter around us, our limitations, and our existence as we pass through time, it naturally follows that something has to exist unbound by limitations, timeless, and omniscient. Perfect wisdom implies perfect love. And love is not self-seeking. Love must manifest and be expressed. In this we find our existence and with it we are given the most wonderful and terrible tool; the reason I find my deepest sorrow intertwined with my greatest joy in my humanity.

With the gift of our free will, through one arrogant act, we brought sin and death into this world! How can it even be called a gift? We abused the privilege afforded by this gift and have used it to separate ourselves from God’s perfect holiness. How could an omniscient perfectly wise God trust us with such a destructive tool?

In Noah’s time our evil choices had grieved God. It’s written in Jeremiah’s time that we created forms of evil that had not even entered God’s mind. We truly are free to make terrible choices and to inflict the results of those choices on ourselves and each other, in full spite of the consequences both eternal and temporal.

But as with all tools, our free will can be used to create as well as destroy.

It's said if you can think three moves ahead in the game of chess you are a very good chess player. Chess champions have claimed to think as far as five moves ahead. Suppose you could think an infinite number of moves ahead and had an infinite amount of time to deliberate. Would you ever make a mistake again?

In the film Groundhog’s Day, Bill Murray is forced to relive the same day over and over again. For a while, he manipulates the various events of that day to his own selfish ends. He begins to realize however that these selfish endeavors are unfulfilling and would always end in complete disaster. Eventually he begins to manipulate the events of the day to work out to the betterment of everyone around him.

What action by Timeless Omniscient God could be more selfless and perfect than creating life and granting it the ability to ultimately reject him?

He knew all too well we would! He knew all too well the pain He would have to endure to reconcile us to Him and yet He created us anyway! Our very existence has come out of sacrificial Love, our ability to choose was given to us out of sacrificial Love, and it’s God’s sacrificial Love that finally enables reconnection with Him.

And beautifully still left in our hands is choice.

We’re not preprogrammed chatbots designed to be agreeable. When we choose to love, when we choose to turn to God, it is real. Free will is the ability to love with real love. We may not be able to bring things into existence and breathe life into them but we have been given the ability to manifest real love!

But what of the results of our terrible choices? What of the sin and death we have filled this world with?

In order for our free will to work, it is dependent on our limitations including our brief trek through time. We do not think an infinite number of moves ahead. Of course the choice to accept God’s gift of His sacrifice is before us from day one and those who can “believe without seeing” are blessed but most of us must learn the hard way. Thankfully God is not a helicopter parent protecting us from everything as we galavant blissfully unaware of the perils around us. We are allowed to see and feel the effects of sin and death. We are invited not simply to believe but to gradually know and understand God’s gift. Would this knowledge be as meaningful if it was preprogrammed into us? So our choice to accept God’s sacrificial Love is not only real, but understood better and better by us over time.

And when His Love is accepted, the dark colors of our selfish choices will each be used as a brush stroke to bring out His Light in the Masterpiece that is each and everyone of us. No longer do they tarnish as a stain or mark against us. Rather every tragedy, every sin, every harsh word, every sorrow is the beginning of another story of His victory in us. While we must each in our own time endure the sin and death of this world until all time ends, rejoice, for Eternal God who exists beyond time has already conquered sin and death and said with finality “It is finished!”

By my choice I have permeated myself with sin. I have willfully brought death upon myself. I have involuntarily suffered crippling tragedy by time and chance. I have been blessed beyond my imagination.

The ultimate Joy I derive from my humanity?

My God-given ability, in spite of all my failures and tragedies and fortunes, to choose His Love… and to understand very well why I make that choice.

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About the Author

Christopher has worked as a children’s pastor and youth leader for several years and has published countless humor articles under the pseudonym Professor Popinjay. He studied biblical history and child psychology through Burean University and various other educational institutions. He enjoys writing, art, and the history of invention. He lives with his amazing wife Jessie and their six bizarre children, one of whom is a cat..

The Joy of Being Human | God in the Strawberry Fields

Our New Blog Series, The Joy of Being Human

“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” Genesis 1:31. Is there joy to be had in embracing our humanness? God calls His creation “very good” and we are created in His image. (Genesis 1:27). Join the blog team every week as each member brings you their unique perspective on the often simple joys to be had in being made human.

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With jobs in education and four kids in school, our family very much looks forward to summer break. Our first family outing of the summer was picking strawberries at a local farm. To me, it is one of the most wonderful and joyous experiences to stand in a field of green and savor the sweetness of that first fresh-picked strawberry of the season. With each bite, I am full of thankfulness and joy and awe that I am able to enjoy such a simple pleasure in life. 

I believe that being fully present in my enjoyment, appreciation, and gratitude for a moment like this is a sincere act of worship that pleases the heart of God. Unfortunately, it is a fairly new idea for me that such an experience could be as much an act of worship as reading my Bible or praying or listening to a sermon. For much of my life, I thought of my spirituality and connection with God as having to do with more “churchy” activities while my day-to-day activities as a human were just things to do in between the more important spiritual things. It’s been a long journey for me to realize that the whole gamut of human experience ought to be entered into as an act of loving worship directed to the God who created it all.

Jesus said that one of the two most important commands or rules that we can focus on in life is to love our neighbor as our self. One way of looking at the “as our self” part of this command is that a proper love of our neighbor is inherently connected to a proper love of ourselves. I think that loving ourselves properly (as God has created us) must include embracing and celebrating our humanity. The first pronouncement that God speaks over humanity in the Bible is that they are good. Very good (Genesis 1:31)! That means, from God’s vantage point, there is deep goodness and beauty to be celebrated in the reality of our humanness, and that goodness surely extends to the most elemental aspects of our existence as human beings. 

No doubt, there is much sin and brokenness present in the world, and human beings often reflect and participate in these realities. In many ways, human beings have a tendency to work against the very goodness that God has created in the world and in them, but this does not negate the essential goodness of human life as God has designed it to function.

I think it is fascinating to read the creation stories in the Bible and think about all the aspects of human life that are present before there is any mention of sin or “the fall.”

There was sex to be enjoyed. (Genesis 1:28)
There were amazing smells to savor. (Genesis 2:12) 
There were all kinds of yummy food to eat. (Genesis 1:29-30, 2:9)
There was beauty to behold. (Genesis 2:9)
There were rhythms of work and rest to observe. (Genesis 2:2, 15)
There was relational partnership and intimacy to experience. (Genesis 2:20, 24)
There was open-ended creativity to perform. (Genesis 2:19-20)

Each of these parts of our humanity can be avenues of great joy and pleasure. It has been a good exercise for me to reflect on each one of these aspects of our common humanity and what it means that God designed human life in this way. Our faith in God, the creator and designer of it all, should draw us more deeply and authentically into these joyful and pleasurable experiences of human life.

For Christians, God’s salvation is not a salvation or deliverance from our humanity, but a salvation that we enter into and experience in and through our humanity. In fact, early Christians went to great and costly lengths to defend this truth. Jesus provides a path for us not to escape our bodies into some spiritual disembodied existence, but a path to become integrated, whole, and flourishing in our humanity. That is one of the main points of the incarnation of Christ.

The Jesus we read about in the Gospels didn’t just pray prayers, preach sermons, heal people, and cast out demons. In fact, most of his thirty-three or so years on earth were spent doing other things. He fully participated in the most common and basic joys and struggles of human life. In the background of the wonderous miracles and teachings of Jesus that we read about in the Bible are simple, unpretentious, down to earth human activities. God embraced humanity by becoming one. Jesus embraced his own humanity by entering fully into the human experience with all its joys and sorrows, capacities and limitations:

Jesus washed feet. (John 13:5)
Jesus cooked breakfast. (John 20:9)
Jesus started fires (John 20:9).
Jesus sung songs. (Mark 14:26)
Jesus went to parties. (John 2:1-3)
Jesus slept on the ground. (Matthew 8:20)
Jesus hiked up mountains (Matthew 17:1)
Jesus worked with wood. (Mark 6:3)

In all these activities, Jesus was fully experiencing life as a human being and God was demonstrating to us all what it looks like to live joyfully and freely as a human being in the world that God created.

Although it is easy to focus on the negative side of all the limitations that we experience as human beings, these limitations also provide the context for great art and creativity to emerge. Pastor Erwin McManus writes about the fact that art always comes into existence through a medium that has certain limitations and boundaries. He then applies this principle to humanity: “We are a work of art, and the limitations that often lead us to conclude that we’re only human should move us to celebrate that we are in fact incredibly human… You are God’s preferred medium to express himself and reveal himself.”(1)

So, with that in mind, go enjoy a piece of shortcake with fresh picked strawberries and whipped cream on top knowing that you are somehow expressing and sharing in the goodness and joy of God the master artist.

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1. Erwin Raphael McManus, The Artisan Soul: Crafting Your Life into a Work of Art (New York: HarperCollins, 2014), 161.

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About the Author

Aaron is a passionate seeker of God and truth, and he enjoys encouraging others in their own pursuits of the same. He especially likes to think about how God is at work in the most ordinary and mundane aspects of our existence. He loves going on adventures to new places with his wife, Heather, and four kids and his perfect day would involve an excellent cup of coffee (or two!), a hike to somewhere beautiful and serene, and some good conversation over a pint at a warm pub. He currently serves as an adjunct instructor at Portland Seminary and co-leads the CitySalt Kids’ Ministry along with his wife, Heather.