You know what makes me sad? And sometimes, mad? Demanding, hurtful, manipulative and destructive behavior. When one chooses to walk with a lack of integrity but instead, chooses to be selfish, self centered. The behavior that is meant to give oneself attention. Or that tears the reputation of another to make oneself look better. At its core, this behavior is centered in our self, and self destructive sinful self. We all have these tendencies. We all struggle with our selfish behavior.
However, we have an amazing perfect example to follow, to set our eyes upon and to emulate. Sometimes, Jesus' love showed in His kindness. Sometimes it showed when he challenged the assumptions of His followers, encouraging growth in their faith, and example is Peter having faith until he was out in the water and sank. And, sometimes, His love was expressed in the performance of miracles...the feeding of the 5000 hungry followers or the healing of the blind man.
Other times, the love of Jesus was not expressed in the same gentle and kind ways. Remember, He became angry and cleared the temple of those using it for their own material wealth. He refused to follow the "accepted" religious precepts of the day. Their self righteousness was exposed. Love does not always give one warm fuzzies. It can be the hard words to say, the firm guidance or the parent who allows their child to fail so that they have an opportunity to learn and grow. But, even these times, that love is not for one's self, doing the hard love is still for the betterment of the one that is loved. This is the Perfect Love that we have as an example.
When we walk through life with our eyes focused upon those around us to "give" us what we "need",consciously or unconsciously, we have taken our eyes off of Jesus and placed them on the person or people around us. We begin to demand approval, or someone to tell us how great we are. There is nothing wrong with someone telling us this, but our actions cornering someone into uttering those words becomes the problem. Rather than setting our dependence upon our Savior, the people around us become responsible to meet those "needs". And the needs become demands. As a result, our relationships are no longer based in love and acceptance, but in demands and holding our family member hostage. The taking instead of giving. Demanding instead of accepting. As a result, we build a cyclone of dysfunction.
In the bible, God says, that He shall provide all of our needs according to His riches in Glory. And, that He cares for the birds that sow, surely, He will care for us more than those.
So, my question today is where are your eyes focused? Are those around you free to move into and out of your life as they choose? Do they feel compelled to release themselves from your grasp? Do they feel your love, honor and respect? Do those that love you make the hard choice to speak the truth no matter how hard? Do you spend your energy speaking love and compassion into the lives of others? Are you invested in building people up rather than tearing them down?
Look to Jesus for your direction, for your forgiveness. Because I assure you, that we all fall down. We all fall short of this goal. We all need His grace and maybe the forgiveness of others. Release those you love into His hands and free them from your grasp. Jesus is our answer.......
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