Embrace the Within no. 148

“Therefore, as the chosen of God, holy and dearly loved, put on affection, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, putting up with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone should have a complaint against anyone, just as also the Lord forgave you, thus also you do the same. And to all these things add love, which is the bond of perfection. And the peace of Christ must rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.”

Colossians 3:12-15 LEB

I am selfish. I typically want other folks to be more like me because it will make my life easier. If folks just did things my way, thought my way, lived my way, then things would go a lot more smoothly for me.

It’s never going to be that way. That’s my way of doing things. Praise God that isn’t His way of doing things or I wouldn’t exist. Too often my way is not His Way. And my way is selfish.

I don’t want the best for others for their benefit. I want the best for others because it benefits me. I want folks to conform to my selfish ways of the world being reshaped in my image. I want folks to act the way I want. I want folks to support the things I support. I want folks to act in a way that benefits me. BUT that isn’t what God wants. God wants me to act like Christ. God wants me to reflect His Son when he looks at me. I bear His image BUT I want what I want too often.

I rarely “put on affection, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience”. I typically don’t tolerate or forgive others. And I am insufficient when it comes to love. The Spirit is supposed to be living inside of me. I am supposed to have the fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control”. I am to be all those things because Christ is and was and will be those things. BUT I am not to be selfish.

Too often I am surrounded by selfish people. And that selfishness wears off on me. I see selfishness in the questions being raised by folks in church. I see selfishness in the questions I am asked by students. I see selfishness in social media posts. I see selfishness in the actions of my family. I see selfishness in the choices of my friends. I see selfishness in the reporting of the news. I see selfishness everywhere including in my own choices. And the first place and last place I need selfishness to change is with me.

I pray today that I listen to the Spirit inside me. I pray that I rely on The Way of the Lord to shape my vision and not my way. I pray that I do better at living a life that is selfless rather than selfish. I pray that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control become my character. I pray that I put on affection, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, putting up with one another, and forgiving one another. I need to change myself before I can change anything else in this world. Father, let me be Your change today and tomorrow and forever.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH