I talk with a lot of people, and am grateful when people share their journeys with me. Recently I talked with a friend who was discouraged by something that happened at work. Have you ever worked in an environment where you were treated unfairly? Ok...maybe I should say has anyone ever worked in a job where you were never treated unfairly? Yep..its fairly universal...even in churches people can treat others unfairly, critically, and without compassion. As I told my church tonight, Satan wants to turn us all into commentators who just sit back and comment on everyone else without leaving the studio of indifference and selfishness to enter into whatever situation they are critiquing to actually make things better. I love the clarity of passages in the Bible like this one: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph. 4:29 Its amazing that we dont use more of our words to help make things better....to BENEFIT others. If were not careful, we end up wasting a lot of words either on things that dont matter, or on things that are negative. Why do we Christians sometimes favor commandments that condemn another persons sin while we give ourselves a pass? Eph. 4:29 sounds pretty clear to me as a command to say helpful, constructive things. Philippians 4:8 is clear, too, when it says, Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Some translations say DWELL on those things. Have you ever thought that pessimism might be a sin? A bad sin! I have seen its discouraging effects on others; and, in the midst of difficulties, it only seems to magnify pain/sadness with no constructive result. Im not talking about being happy all the time with a fake smile, etc. I am talking about facing lifes adversities with hope and peace and a willingness to bless others even when you are suffering. Life is often unfair; people are, too. You cant suddenly make others be fair, but you can respond appropriately. You can still see the good around you; and the good that you are capable of producing. You may even become a part of a greater good more wonderful than you can possibly imagine...something like this video clip....dont miss being a part of something HUGE and WONDERFUL! Your life has more of an impact than youll every know! Click here and see what I mean! ( I shared this some time ago, but someone I talked with recently needed to see it!) https://youtube/watch?v=rHZiR7qCwSE
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 03:40:19 +0000
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