Posts Tagged ‘hate’

You know that saying, “garbage in garbage out”? I was wondering, is that always true? I mean can you ever put garbage in and not get garbage out? Could you put high quality non-garbage in and get garbage out? And by the way, I am pretty sure that this saying came from a mother desperately trying to convince her child that Lucky Charms is not the best way to begin and end your day. However, they are magically delicious, it says so right on the box!

The statement could also be an effort to make people think about the information they allow into their minds everyday. Something along the lines of, if you only listen to negative people talking about negative issues then you will begin to think in a negative way. I whole heartedly agree with this but is there a way to change up the negative info coming in and make it positive? I think so.

We live in such a heightened awareness of environmentally safe products, that I started thinking about, how as a person, I can change the trajectory of my thoughts, from garbage into environmentally safe renewable energy. The compost of the information one person can take in on any given day is incredible, but what if we could take all of that garbage and turn it into reusable positive information!!!

Please understand, this isn’t an easy conversion to make and it is one that involves help from someone who is the authority on turning bad to good, hate to love, and garbage to environmentally safe renewable energy!!

One of my favorite authors’s, John Ortberg, has written extensively on the idea of staying in the flow of the Holy Spirit, and connected to God, in his latest book, The Me I Want to Be. He describes a gap that exists between who I am and who God designed me to be and the only way to bridge that gap, is to live in grace. Receive God’s grace and when I fail, which I will, God will send another wave of grace that I need to receive again and keep on fighting the fight!

In other words, I need to stay connected to God; so that when he sends another wave of grace I am able to receive it. When I put my focus on everything else around me, worldly things, it becomes a lot more difficult to tap into those waves. This isn’t just about trying harder, I cannot manufacture renewable energy on my own, the Holy Spirit comes to me in those waves that John writes about and brings me power, joy and rest to use toward becoming the best positive version of myself.

This positive output or renewable energy is the type of fuel I know I am going to need on my journey to becoming the best mom, wife, sister, daughter, and girlfriend I want to be. So, garbage in, garbage out? Not always! Some may even say there is a little bit of “magically deliciousness” involved!!

“I forgive you” my daughter says when she has been punished for something naughty she has done. When a favorite toy is taken from her for a “time out”, immediately she tells me she forgives me. Even though this really isn’t they way forgiveness is supposed to work, it stuck in my head and I started thinking about people or situations I needed to forgive and hadn’t.

I am almost positive that the God of the Universe didn’t reserve his forgiveness just for me. Why then do I withhold forgiveness from anyone? One of the worst things about withholding forgiveness isn’t really about what you are denying the person who has offended you; it is what that withholding can do to your own heart.

If you are anything like me, (sorry, but there has to be at least one person out there) holding on to the offense in some situations can become a kind of obsession. Like the care and devotion required to grow a bonsai tree. They require just the right amount of water; sun light, temperature and constant pruning. You want to tell others how you have been hurt (another sin by the way); you will play out different scenarios in your head where you get to seize revenge on your offender and cause humiliation for them. Oh, what sweet revenge, right? But what actually happens, is a drift from the One who has forgiven you millions of times over and over again. The offense starts to poison your heart and if left untreated it can become like a cancer consuming all of you. And this could be just one instance!!!! This cancer will invite other cancers to come and take up residence in your heart, like bitterness, resentment, guilt, shame, fear and even hate. If you are not proactive you could end up with a heart that has no room for the love of Christ and seems to be covered in a thick black tar called pride and self righteousness.

Those of you who are different than me, tend to never acknowledge that there was any type of wrong doing in the first place instead you internalize your hurt by not speaking about it at all. You say nothing and act as if nothing has happened and if any emotion regarding the hurt starts to show itself you immediately push it back into a nice little box next to all of the other hurts you are carrying around. Guess what? That doesn’t work either. Sooner or later all of those boxes will start to bulge and rip, until finally they can hold no more and it starts to ooze out the sides, until an explosion happens and you end up spewing all of that pent up hurt, resentment and bitterness on everyone around you. It reminds me of a pair of jeans I once owned. I loved those jeans. I loved them so much that even after I had out grown them I still jammed myself into them, contorting my body into all kinds of strange positions and asking for assistance from girlfriends to get them on, until one day after getting them on they burst! I do mean burst! The button went flying off and the zipper completely ripped out. I felt a very deep sadness that the jeans had finally quit on me but also a very distinct sense of relief. I am pretty sure that was my spleen and a few other internal organs sensing the release in pressure.

We are human and forgiveness isn’t going to come naturally for most of us but God has commanded us to forgive and more than that he has also commanded us to go to the person who has offended us. This is not always an easy thing to do especially if the person who has hurt you is not a Christian. If that is the case, you are not off the hook, seek wise counsel from your pastor or a Christian mentor and make plan, realize that the person may not hear you and accept your forgiveness. The most important thing is that you truly forgive and move on.

Please don’t mistake forgiveness with forgetting. There are some hurts that still require you to forgive but not to forget what has happened. We still need to protect our selves from situations that could put us or others in danger.

I am committed to becoming more like my daughter and immediately asking for and giving forgiveness, to keeping the cancers out of my heart, realizing when the jeans don’t fit anymore and living the life God has planned for me!

Have you ever taken time to really think about what God in the physical, human form, looks like? I mean what he really looks like, not the pictures from Sunday school that show the golden hair, blue eyed, white tunic wearing man.

In, Phillip Yancy’s book, “The Jesus I Never Knew”, he reminds us that, Jesus was a Jew…and most likely had dark coloring. He may have had dark, longer hair, dark eyes, full beard, a larger more angular nose and probably needed a bath.

Not exactly what I would have originally thought. If Jesus were to come back today in the same way, would I recognize him? Would I judge his looks? Prejudge the man based on his appearance? I desperately want to say no….but truthfully I think I would.

If a homeless, former carpenter, traveling from city to city, started preaching that he was the Messiah, would I listen or call him crazy and someone who needs to be medicated. If a group of men from all different walks of life started following him and proclaiming he was the messiah and that he was performing miracles would the paparazzi start to stalk him?

Would church leaders come out speaking against him and call for him to be jailed? Would religious authorities become worried as his following continued to grow and take members and their money away from the churches? Could this man and his claims bring about divisions amongst congregations and cause churches to split?

Who would respond with love? Who would respond with hate? Would groups start to plan assignation attempts or plan elaborate schemes to frame him in a crime in an attempt to silence him?

How would I respond? Turn the TV off to avoid hearing or seeing the reports of his alleged miracles? Protect my children from this crazy person and the lies he is spreading. Volunteer with a group focusing on keeping people engaged in the “truth” not these crazy thoughts and ideas this man was spreading…….

I don’t know about you, but I am so glad this has already happened (in another time and place!) and I know that the homeless former carpenter WAS and IS my GOD!!!!

I want to remind myself that it is my faith today that delivers me from my doubts I may have tomorrow and His grace that lets me forget all of my yesterdays!!!!

What an awesome God we have. Can I get an AMEN?!!

Psalm 99: 3
“Let them praise your great and awesome name— he is holy.”