Authority

I began reading a hardback edition of the New English Translation of the New Testament today. It's written like a book so I want to read it like a book.

Jesus had preached what has come to be known as 'The Sermon on the Mount.' "When Jesus had finished this discourse the people were astounded at His teaching; unlike their own teachers he taught with a note of authority."

Their own teachers laid down their law, and burdened their people;
 not lifting a finger to help them carry that burden.
 Do this. Do that.  Don't do this. Don't do that.

They operated out of a desire to control others rather than having an internal authority that leads.

Authority is deep-rooted in a person's character.
 What one says to do is no different than what one does.

 This authority comes from the inside out.

Control comes from the outside in.

  It's like trying to put a lid on a bubbling spring.

Control is interested in behavior.
 It's not interested in a person's attitude or character.

Control is about the appearance of a thing; what's on the surface.
Control does not consider a person's heart.

I looked up these two words in Webster's.

Authority-power or influence resulting from knowledge, prestige; the power or right to give commands, enforce obedience, take action, or make final decisions; jurisdiction

Control-to exercise authority over; direct; command; to curb; restrain; regulate

One 'earns' the right to have authority through the influence of integrity, knowledge, and prestige.

One 'takes' the right to control by forcing one's own will over another's to direct, command, and regulate that person's will and behavior.

No wonder the people were astonished at His teaching.
For He spoke with the knowledge, prestige, and power that was His
 before the world was formed.

If we understood authority
we wouldn't need to be control freaks.

When I was in my teens, I went to a Woman's  Retreat where Matilda Kipfer was speaking. She said something that I never forgot. She said, "Manipulation is as the sin of witchcraft because it makes people do things against their will."

Oh, God.
Help me understand.
Help me operate under Your authority
and not out of my own need to control.