Word vomit... have you ever experienced it? That moment when you start unloading on someone. You start tearing down who they are. Throwing up all of these bad things about them. I caught myself doing this recently. Oh, it was masked behind some legitimate sounding reasons and I also had someone encouraging and confirming the things I was saying. It almost sounded reasonable... almost.
The things I say or, as more often is the case, the things I think may be true. But what is the motive? To build up the person and help them move forward? Not usually. Usually it is based on something a lot less noble... selfishness and jealousy. I see what they have or the way they are treated and want it. So I start finding faults in them. Ways to bring them down to my level so to speak.
What do you do when someone you know gets promoted instead of you? What do you do when a friend gets some good news? Are you excited for them or do you start looking for reasons you should have gotten those things? Selfishness can bury itself deeply in us. It robs us of being able to find joy in others. I want that joy, but it means I have to put myself aside. That means more than just saying the polite thing when they are around. Joy has a way deeper meaning than that. It means truly celebrating with them. We know the "right" things to say, but do we mean them?
Another bad thing about word vomit is that it can be highly contagious. We are quick to jump in and point out someones less desirable traits. But what if we were as quick to encourage someone and tell them the good things we see in them? There is a time when we need to point out when someone is missing the mark, but it should always be about building the other person up in love and not because of our jealousy.
Can you celebrate someone else's good news, even when you find yourself in one of those tough places in life? We get to choose whether we have joy or selfishness. What is your choice?
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Alone in the middle
Last week I was in the middle of tons of people and I didn't know any of them. I was in a mall in Dallas and felt as if I was all alone even in the middle of all of those people. Surrounded by people who didn't know me and really didn't even care. Have you ever felt like that even when you are in the middle of people you do know? Wondering how you could be surrounded by people but still feel all alone? That is where I've found myself recently... in the middle of it all, but still feeling alone.
I overheard a couple of people talking about someone who hasn't been around church much recently. The jest of the conversation was that the person who had been there sporadically at best recently, had been around long enough to know that they just needed to get involved and serve if they wanted to be a part of the community. The ones talking had tried long enough and now it was up to the other person if they wanted to find a place to belong. I've felt that way before. Felt I've tried to include others and that now they needed to do their part to fit in. But recently, I know what it feels like to be drifting out there some and just wanting someone to care enough and not give up on me. Not to have to do anything or act like I have it all together to have a place in community.
The thing that brings me hope is that no matter what I may be feeling or how alone I may feel, I am pursued by God. It doesn't matter if I am the "prodigal" son or the "good" son. He loves me where I am at. At my best or even at my worst, His love doesn't change. We may feel that we are accomplishing a lot and really pursuing righteousness or we may be barely holding on and wondering if we will make it through another day... it doesn't matter as neither is enough. It isn't because of our performance or lack of performance that we are loved. It is because of who He is that we are loved. We are loved not because of how we fit in or if we feel alone, but because of His perfect love.
Maybe you are pursuing God with all that is within you right now or maybe you are wondering how you ended up all alone in the middle of a crowd... wherever you are at in life right now, you are loved more that you can imagine. Go ahead and try to out dream God. You can't. His love will stretch beyond it. We may not always do the best job of reflecting that love as Christians, matter of fact we fail at it sometimes, but because of that love we get to keep trying. It isn't about us at all, but it is all about Him. Not because we are worth it, but because He can't help himself and loves us in spite of who we are. He sees us as perfect, even when we don't. Wonder what it would look like if we started trying to see each other as He sees us? Wonder if there would be less lonely people? Wonder if there would still be people that we would give up on and just let them drift somewhere else because we are tired of trying? Kind of doubt it because I don't think God ever stops pursuing us. Wonder if that means as Christians that we should not stop pursuing others as well? Even when it is hard. Even when we don't feel like trying any more.
Just wondering what it might look like if we loved, no matter what.
I overheard a couple of people talking about someone who hasn't been around church much recently. The jest of the conversation was that the person who had been there sporadically at best recently, had been around long enough to know that they just needed to get involved and serve if they wanted to be a part of the community. The ones talking had tried long enough and now it was up to the other person if they wanted to find a place to belong. I've felt that way before. Felt I've tried to include others and that now they needed to do their part to fit in. But recently, I know what it feels like to be drifting out there some and just wanting someone to care enough and not give up on me. Not to have to do anything or act like I have it all together to have a place in community.
The thing that brings me hope is that no matter what I may be feeling or how alone I may feel, I am pursued by God. It doesn't matter if I am the "prodigal" son or the "good" son. He loves me where I am at. At my best or even at my worst, His love doesn't change. We may feel that we are accomplishing a lot and really pursuing righteousness or we may be barely holding on and wondering if we will make it through another day... it doesn't matter as neither is enough. It isn't because of our performance or lack of performance that we are loved. It is because of who He is that we are loved. We are loved not because of how we fit in or if we feel alone, but because of His perfect love.
Maybe you are pursuing God with all that is within you right now or maybe you are wondering how you ended up all alone in the middle of a crowd... wherever you are at in life right now, you are loved more that you can imagine. Go ahead and try to out dream God. You can't. His love will stretch beyond it. We may not always do the best job of reflecting that love as Christians, matter of fact we fail at it sometimes, but because of that love we get to keep trying. It isn't about us at all, but it is all about Him. Not because we are worth it, but because He can't help himself and loves us in spite of who we are. He sees us as perfect, even when we don't. Wonder what it would look like if we started trying to see each other as He sees us? Wonder if there would be less lonely people? Wonder if there would still be people that we would give up on and just let them drift somewhere else because we are tired of trying? Kind of doubt it because I don't think God ever stops pursuing us. Wonder if that means as Christians that we should not stop pursuing others as well? Even when it is hard. Even when we don't feel like trying any more.
Just wondering what it might look like if we loved, no matter what.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)