Peaceful living, huh?!
From an email sent to my mom's group:
So, somebody moved my "ducks"... You know those ducks I had all in a row! :) Seriously though, I was very surprised this week when I took a "mental inventory" of my closest relationships and found a few out-of-line. How could this have happened?? I was pretty sure I had correctly set the "auto pilot"... so what was going on?
I should know by now that if I'm asking, the Lord has been waiting to answer! :) To be completely honest I didn't want to write on this today... its such a hard topic, relationships. But true to his perfect form, the Lord wouldn't let me escape it! Both of my Bible readings today focused on this. My first reading took me to Ephesians 4:1-5 (NIV):
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
The Message in part (love this!):
And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
And, as if this were not enough, my second reading took me to 1 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV):
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
Again, the Message in part:
Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
I could probably just end this here. :) The Lord says it so perfectly, doesn't he! But what hit me right between the eyes was the one thing, besides love, required for "peaceful living"; humility.
Ah yes, humility. Can I just say that sometimes I feel like this should be a "four letter word"! I'm only kidding. But humility is hard! Especially in the face of criticism or any other unkind behavior. I'm not saying that humility is the answer for every situation. We all have those relationships that we know the Lord is leading us to "let go of". But for me, most of the time, if I would just humble myself and stop insisting on my way, things would go much more smoothly. Again, could this be any harder?!
So, what do I do with this? (This is often my question when I know the answer but don't like it... do you ever remind yourself of a toddler, as I do?) Well, after taking a long look at my "ducks", I relent. The reason they're out-of-line is... ME. Which honestly is sort-of a relief. If its me, then I have the CONTROL /power to change it! Its not easy... outside of the power of the Holy Spirit I will fail every time! Thank God, he doesn't call us to do it alone. :)
My prayer for us today is this: that we would humble ourselves before our God. And by the power of the Holy Spirit respond in humility toward those around us... even the difficult ones. So that we may have PEACE in our relationships!!
So, somebody moved my "ducks"... You know those ducks I had all in a row! :) Seriously though, I was very surprised this week when I took a "mental inventory" of my closest relationships and found a few out-of-line. How could this have happened?? I was pretty sure I had correctly set the "auto pilot"... so what was going on?
I should know by now that if I'm asking, the Lord has been waiting to answer! :) To be completely honest I didn't want to write on this today... its such a hard topic, relationships. But true to his perfect form, the Lord wouldn't let me escape it! Both of my Bible readings today focused on this. My first reading took me to Ephesians 4:1-5 (NIV):
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
The Message in part (love this!):
And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
And, as if this were not enough, my second reading took me to 1 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV):
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
Again, the Message in part:
Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
I could probably just end this here. :) The Lord says it so perfectly, doesn't he! But what hit me right between the eyes was the one thing, besides love, required for "peaceful living"; humility.
Ah yes, humility. Can I just say that sometimes I feel like this should be a "four letter word"! I'm only kidding. But humility is hard! Especially in the face of criticism or any other unkind behavior. I'm not saying that humility is the answer for every situation. We all have those relationships that we know the Lord is leading us to "let go of". But for me, most of the time, if I would just humble myself and stop insisting on my way, things would go much more smoothly. Again, could this be any harder?!
So, what do I do with this? (This is often my question when I know the answer but don't like it... do you ever remind yourself of a toddler, as I do?) Well, after taking a long look at my "ducks", I relent. The reason they're out-of-line is... ME. Which honestly is sort-of a relief. If its me, then I have the CONTROL /power to change it! Its not easy... outside of the power of the Holy Spirit I will fail every time! Thank God, he doesn't call us to do it alone. :)
My prayer for us today is this: that we would humble ourselves before our God. And by the power of the Holy Spirit respond in humility toward those around us... even the difficult ones. So that we may have PEACE in our relationships!!
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