I have come to realize recently that I do in fact struggle with something that for so much of my life I thought did not affect me. I knew many other people dealt with it, but I always assumed I wasn’t one of them.

Growing up in and around the Church, people often talked about fighting against the temptations of comparing yourself to others. Because we are saved by grace through Christ, comparing ourselves to others can be detrimental and unhelpful. Thinking that we have it “more together” or are “more faithful” or don’t struggle with “that” can lead us to falsely think that although we are not perfect, we are not has bad as “that person.”

However, we all need God’s grace. Paul tells us in Romans 3 that no one left to themselves is righteous, and Jesus tells us in Mark 17:18 that no one is good but God alone. It is Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that makes us “good” before God for those that trust in Him. This is why comparing ourselves to others is warned against.

And I thought I never had an issue with that. Until recently.

Over the years, many people have told me that they believe I’ll be “successful” in ministry or have a “successful” ministry career. But many people have lots of potential to do a variety of things, and being young many are told that they will be successful in whatever field they are entering into. I say that to say I don’t believe I am inherently more skilled or gifted than anyone else, and I also know many people say these things just to be nice.

Anyway, I find it more and more humorous when I hear statements like these. I know people typically mean well, but I can’t help but feel what we mean by “successful in ministry” is not quite the same thing as what the Lord would consider successful in ministry.

This is a guest post by my wife Christina Dodson. She works at First Choice Pregnancy Solutions where they provide free resources to women with unplanned pregnancies including counseling, medical resources, as well as post-abortion care. Most importantly they fight for the lives of the unborn. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Life is hard. It just is; there is no denying that. And we are all out there trying and striving after our dream life. Struggling and scrambling to get all our ducks in a row so that we can live this life we have dreamed up in our heads. A life where we have all the “this” and “that’s” that we feel like we need in order to be happy, an ideal life we feel like is obtainable but just out of our reach where there is 100% contentment and peace.

This world is dark. I feel like at any given time there are situations going on that tear at my heart whether it’s pain in my own life or a close loved one’s around me. There is no escaping it. Situations that feel impossible and are wrapped in sadness, confusion, and anger. There are marriages that are crumbling, children that are being neglected and abused, widows that are suffering daily from their great loss, and disease that is slowly killing.

The summer after my freshmen year in college, I knew for certain what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to do pastoral ministry. Because of this, I changed my major from music to religion, started reading a lot of books and listened to a ton of sermons. Upon graduation my wife Christina and I helped plant a church for two years, all the while I completed my Master’s degree in Religion.

We desired to help plant a church because I desired to plant and pastor a church one day. Christina became the children’s director and took a part time job at a coffee shop, and I took a part time retail job and cleaned banks on the side for a time before taking a part time job at the church. We all know that two people with no kids have the ability to do quite nicely financially, but when they both take a bunch of part time jobs you aren’t necessarily maximizing your financial abilities.

One of the many things I learned from my father’s death in 2009 was the necessity of letting yourself feel your pain.

The natural reaction we have when we experience deep hurt is to run from it. It’s not easy to deal with, so we suppress it, run from it, try to forget about, or do whatever else so it takes so that we don’t have to feel our pain.

I remember the countless conversations I had with people after my Dad died and being so surprised at the people who still had so much bitterness and hurt towards things that had happened to them over 10 to 15 years ago. Thankfully, I quickly learned an important lesson when it came to dealing with pain: you can’t run from it.

What running does

Continuing in this series on karma (part 1, part 2, part 3), we are looking at problems and contradictions of the doctrine of karma.

Karma is an often used phrased in western culture that has its origin in eastern or Asian religions. Unfortunately, karma is not biblical, and is quite contradictory and incompatible with the existence of God.

I have presented six problems with the doctrine of karma and showed why it cannot exist without using any reference to God or the Bible. I am now concluding, showing biblically the issues that karma creates.

Continuing in this series on karma (part 1, part 2), we are looking at problems and contradictions of the doctrine of karma.

Karma is an often used phrased in western culture that has its origin in eastern or Asian religions. Unfortunately, karma is not biblical, and is quite contradictory and incompatible with the existence of God.

In part 3, I am presenting two more problems with the doctrine of karma to show why it cannot exist without using any reference to God or the Bible. I will then show biblically the issues that karma creates in my next (final) post.

Problem #5) The Free Will Problem: When doing wrong, are people doing so voluntarily, or as a mechanism for other’s karma?

Continuing in this series on of posts karma (part 1), we are looking at problems and contradictions with the doctrine of karma.

Karma is an often used phrased in western culture that has its origin in eastern or Asian religions. Unfortunately, karma is not biblical, and is quite contradictory and incompatible with the existence of God.

In part 2, I am presenting two more problems with the doctrine of karma to show why it cannot exist without using any reference to God or the Bible.

Problem #3) The Infinite Regress Problem: Where does it all begin?

Karma: action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in reincarnation.*

Karma is an often used phrased in western culture that has its origin in eastern or Asian religions. Unfortunately, karma is not biblical, and is quite contradictory and incompatible with the existence of God.

In the next few posts (post 2, post 3, post 4), I will present six problems with the doctrine of karma and show why it cannot exist without using any reference to God or the Bible. I will then show biblically the issues that karma creates.

Problem #1) The Memory Problem: How can I better myself if I don’t know what I’m being punished for?

I had a conversation recently with someone who, although was not a Christian, did say that he was still close to Jesus. However, unlike other relationships we have with people, our relationship with Jesus is much more black and white than it may seem.

I went on to explain that it isn’t about how “close” you feel you are to Jesus. A sense of feeling near to Jesus is a good thing, but it is far from the thing. And while all of us at different times feel close or far from Him, there is one thing that ultimately determines not only our relationship to Jesus, but how close we actually are to him.