I find it interesting to see what kind of books are out there when I have the chance to wander around and look at a bookstore. Based on the multiple books that are out there that can help you figure everything out in 7 easy steps you would think we would have it more together. Just follow these easy steps, and do things just this way, and everything will be perfect. Why are we still so screwed up then? We have even been given insights from God (a pretty reliable source on things if you ask me) on how to approach life and what should be the important things in our lives, but still yet we can't (probably more accurately said that we choose not to) do the things that are best for us.
Brian talked about forgiveness this weekend. Forgiveness is one of those things that we would be better off if we practiced it, but still we resist doing it. We want things to be our way, we want the other person to admit we are right, we have been hurt by them too much to forgive them... there are multiple reasons we won't forgive, but really it hurts us more than the person we think we are holding hostage by not forgiving them. Forgiveness is tough. Most things that are worth it are tough. The 7 easy steps... they usually don't work. Maybe that is the problem with all of the books and ways we try to do things. We want the quick, the convenient, the instant fix, the results without any hard effort. Probably the three things I work the hardest at (and still haven't got them down yet) are forgiving people (I tend to remember every slight rather it is real or imagined), humility (I am pretty sure that I am right a lot of time and that people should just accept that and life would be easier... at least for me) and not placing my expectations on other people (this one is probably the toughest for me and is closely tied to the other two items).
No books are going to solve my problems. They might give me some good suggestions, but until I start applying it to my life, nothing is really going to change. Change, as painful as it might be, is part of process. I probably won't ever have it all together, but that isn't a reason to stop trying. What book title would you like to see to give you those 7 easy steps to improve your life?
1 comment:
I would like to see seven easy steps to parenting or understanding the trinity or learning to maintian self control. It's true, you can't step yourself into living life. It just has to be lived. As a person who struggles with personal life structure sometimes I can appreciate the suggested game plan that others have used, or the wisdom picked up along the way. But at the end of the day there's that intangible that can't be listed or checked off or "stepped" through.
Forgiveness is like that for me as well. I'm always kind of baffled when people offer knowledge up as the answer to all of the worlds problems. Sometimes we say things like education, or we need to educate that person on - whatever the issue is. Don't get me wrong, I need to hear the sermons or study through the lessons or have the discussions. But for stuff like forgiveness those are really just venues and opportunities for me to work through the thing that I already know again.
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