Proza

"Piety towards God and servitude towards men."
 
That is the code of honor that I'm trying to live up to. But I'll be honest - it's very difficult code of honor to live up to; at least, in two parts.
 
First part is the "piety towards God". In philosophy, piety (Gk. "eusebeia") is one's inwardly and heartfelt devotion to the Deity. It is distinct from religion (Gk. "threskeia") which is merely one's outwardly observance to a creed or some ritual acts. In other words, piety is soul substance while religion is a flesh substance. 
 
It's just so unfortunate that it's easier to be religious than to be pious. You see, it's so easy to show people how devoted you are. But when you are all alone, it's so easy to look at solitude as an excuse to do something evil; after all, nobody will see what you are doing. The problem is, God sees you; and at the end of the day, you will find out that you're not really being pious - just being hypocritically religious.
 
Second part is the "servitude towards men". What makes it difficult? My issue with pride. And to people like me who have issues with pride, servitude doesn't make a lot of sense. First of all, as a person, I have a right to say no to any favors asked. No human has an absolute right to coerce me into doing what I don't want to do, so I just can say no if I want to. After all, I am a free citizen with inviolable rights. You see, that's what actually makes a lot of sense to people like me. We have our own lives to take care of; so why bother caring for other people?
 
Problem is, far opposite of this idea is what Jesus did just to show grace to people like me. You see, He is the Son of God and all the heavens and the earth are commanded to bow down to Him. And as Deity Himself, He has sovereignty over the whole creation; yet He chose to go lower than the level of His heavenly worshipers down to the level of wretched creatures like us. What's even more amazing is that He did it to experience the wrath that we all deserve to get. And with that in mind, all my excuses for pride burns away.
 
The very heart of this problem of mine is the very problem of my heart - sin. Because of sin, I tend to forget Who God is and what Jesus did for me. It is a heart of ingratitude, with which after all the good things that He did for me, all that I do is  to repay Him with my sinfulness. As Francis Shaeffer said, "The beginning of men’s rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart."
 
This only shows that I'm nothing more like a sinner just like Adam and Eve - who also have sinned because of lack of gratitude towards God. That is why I still need Jesus to save me from my sin and change me through His Spirit.

- Shim'onai :D