Full disclosure time. I'm not proud of my thoughts and my attitude sometimes. I get irritated and overwhelmed by people who are so full of hurt and pain they want to make everyone in their wake hurt and feel miserable about their own circumstances. I actually find myself almost indignant that they would intrude their "bad vibes" into my world.
Now part of my distress is because I am an extremely empathetic person -- I "absorb" the energy around me. That means I naturally become influenced by others' joy and sorrow--anger and pain as well as hope and determination. Knowing this, I should be clothed in the "full armor of God" every instant!
I have Christ as my Savior! Why do I forget that I am not to expend my energy being upset that others who are miserable try to bring me down? Why is it that I fail to go to God in prayer for them and their souls? Too often "it" becomes all about "me." And that is the worse form of sin because it makes ME the center of the universe.
This morning as I read my bible I opened up to 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 and I was soo busted! It was as if Paul was telling me "Convicted, Mary!" Fortunately, he also reminds me that I am saved by the grace of Christ - even though I fail all too often to extend that grace to others.
I feel so much "lighter" now that I have returned God to HIS rightful center of my universe. I am so filled with relief and gratitude that He has been restored to His rightful place in my heart and mind.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you" (2 Corinthians 4:7-12 NIV)
Mary
