- Jul 25, 2022
- 3 min read
“Peace to your house.”
Embrace the Within.
Because folks are a mess it is easy for me to decide that folks are never going to change. It is easy for me to give up on people.
When I first started planting seeds, the crop was wiped out by animals eating them right out of my raised bed. There was no harvest. There was no success. There was nothing but failure. And the easy path would have been to just give up and go back to relying on the supply chain. The easy path would have been to stop my efforts.
When I first started working out daily, I hurt and failed to get through my modest workout routine. The easy path was to stop working out and go back to being unhealthy. The easy path would have been to just quit trying to get my body into better shape.
When I started cutting out the processed foods and sugars, I hated the taste of the salted water. I was not a big fan of making my own meals out of vegetables. I was not a fan of quitting drinking. I was not a fan of shopping and looking at labels. The easy path was just to eat the same garbage I had been eating. The easy path was to put as much sugar and seed oil into my body as possible and feel as bad as the things I was eating and drinking.
We all get to choose to change. And we all get to choose to give up. BUT we should never give up in the faith that people can change. I could have tapped out on getting healthy when getting healthy was a challenge. I could have tapped out on getting healthy when it got uncomfortable. BUT I chose to not tap out. I chose to persevere. And I have to choose to persevere in believing that no matter how much of a mess someone else is, no matter how much I try to help and they fail, no matter how much I model and pray and they don’t listen, that I have to choose to never give up. And I have the best model for that in God.
The amount that others try my patience and caring is inconsequential when compared to the love and patience that God shows each and every one of us. I am not without well documented mistakes in my past. I have tested and tried the patience and bounds of God in the past. And I still make mistakes on my path to being more Christian. BUT in spite and despite all that history, I still got the chance to change. I never ran out of chances. And neither do you.
Every day is a chance to choose whether you are going to give up or push through, whether you are going to stop or proceed, whether you are going to change or fall back into the rut. You get to choose. I get to choose. And no matter how many times we fail, we still get a chance to make things better.
Do not give up on people. They are never perfect. They are works in progress.
Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.