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"I thank God for Mrs. Smith and the conflict she brings me. In her more clearly than in Sunday School lessons or sermons, I encounter the Christ of scripture saying, "Inasmuch as you have don it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." - Robert D. Lupton
I ALLOW myself to be easily irritable. I GIVE IN to road rage. Girls in class with stupid questions or answers bother me to the point where I think to myself "wow, seriously?" or exaggerate the wideness of my eyes. I hate when people breath on me. I find girls with a lot of confidence and a sense of humor obnoxious if I don't find them funny or cute. I find a person in every class to compete against because composition fuels my "A" mentality. It takes a lot for me to be respectful of other view points and not argue in a rude way. And I don't like to wait or be put out. - And all this, just today.
But when I read the words of Christ, or others who lay their lives down I want so badly to be that person. I want to open my home to strangers. I want to be even-tempered and soft spoken. I want to count all my bad points as gain. But a few minutes of being outside my home and I slip right back into my old behaviors.
I think the difference is in keeping the right mindset throughout the day. Not by might, will power, or strength, but by being in constant communion with God. I think that would change it all. Instead of giving into impulses, I would lean more heavily into the Cross until not only would I behavior differently, but I would think differently. I would think like one who has been changed by Grace. And I think it's a heart issue. My heart is not in the right place. O Jesus replace my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh! Beating with Your rhythm, pumping Your love through my veins! Help me to stay in constant communion with You that I never leave Your garden and we walk hand in hand all my days.
Morgan }|{ "Look at Jesus only."
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