truth

If I asked you who you are

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If I asked you who you are, how would you answer? Are you defined by your profession? Are you single or married? Are you a wife, husband, mother or father? Are you defined by your hobby or activities? Are you a sports fanatic, a hunter, a cook, a writer or a gardener? Are you short or tall? Blonde or brunette? Christian, Muslim or atheist? The list goes on and on. The answer can be some, all or none of these things, but that is not who you are. Too often we are defined and identified by things in our life that are only a small part of who we are. In our highly “technologically” connected society, we are sometimes known more for what we are against than who we are. Our political affiliations, our heritage, our afflictions, our issues and our opinions are all more visible to others than the person that we are. We wear these like a badge, ready to debate and hate when the opportunity arises. We should take a stand on things that affect us and we can control, but we cannot let them define who we are.

I have to love everyone and accept the fact that some people are going to disagree with me on almost everything. I also have to remember that I can still love them even if we disagree. Social media and the news media have polarized us into thinking that everything needs to be a fight. I have fought enough over stupid things in my life and I am over that. I still may disagree and offer an opposing viewpoint because honest discussion and debate are still valuable tools for growth. I can’t place my identity in any of these things. If they identify me then I lose who I am! My identity comes from one place, that I am a child of God. Jesus never said we would have it easy. In fact he said we would be persecuted and face many trials. God loves us too much to leave us as we are. He will continue to grow us into who we need to be, but my true identity was established long ago on a cross.

1 John 3:1-3

Love them??

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I can think back over my life and make a list of 3 or 4 people that I never would like to see again. I am at the point in my life where I no longer wish for them to burst into flames. I just would not like to be reminded of the situations that caused these feelings. I forgave them years ago and I wish them well. However, do I love them? Wait a minute, love them, do I have to? Forgiving was fairly easy over time. Forgetting is more difficult. Loving them would take more grace than I alone have. Most of these people live 400 or more miles away from me, so I don’t have to deal with them on a regular basis. What about people that we deal with daily? Maybe there is someone at work that we just don’t see eye to eye with. We all have a neighbor that we could live without. There is a grumpy, rude, unpleasant individual that works at store where I buy lunch. I don’t really have anything to forgive these types for but, do I love these people?

In Matthew 5:43-44 Jesus says to love them and pray for them! Ok, now I have to love them and pray for them? Not just the people we don’t want to be around, but our enemies also. Just for the record Jesus doesn’t mean that we pray for their brakes to fail or anything like that. But wait….there is more. Proverbs 25: 21-22 says that I have to feed and give my enemies water. Now I have to feed him and give them water also? We not only have to do this but we have to do this with a pure heart. We have to want to do it. Wait for it….there is more! Leviticus 19:18 says some stuff about not seeking revenge or holding a grudge. OK, so we have to forgive them, love them, pray for them, feed them, give them water and do this without holding a grudge???? And we have to do this because we want to not because we have to????

No problem (sarcasm)! I said earlier that loving them would take more grace than I had alone. I need to pray for myself also. Pray that my own pride, resentment, selfish issues be moved out of the way or better yet taken away. I will never do this perfectly. I’m so thankful that God forgives me, loves me, talks with me, feeds me, gives me water, doesn’t seek revenge, doesn’t hold a grudge and does it all because he wants to!

John 15:12

Why didn’t I see that before?

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I’ve been attending church since I was born. My grandmother made sure that the 6 grand-kids were in church…..even if she had to take us herself! I was raised Southern Baptist. Like any good Southern Baptist I was in Sunday school very regularly. I have heard all of the standard, more popular Bible stories at least 1 time a year for the first 13 years of my life. You know the “well known” Old Testament stuff like Adam and Eve, Noah, David and Goliath and Moses leading his people out of Egypt. I know the stories very well. Those are just stories that are historical or metaphorical. At least I thought that is all they are…….

A few years ago Angela was teaching the 3 and 4 year olds on Sundays at church. On Saturday nights she would go over the lesson to prepare for the next day. She would read it out loud and I would usually listen because she is so animated, that she makes it fun. Not to mention she is really cute also.  Anyway as she would read these stories, I would almost always see some kind of symbolism or alternate reason for the story. Something that I hadn’t seen before was revealed regularly!  I began to see how things would point to our Savior or the need for Him. I had been avoiding some of these stories or glancing through them because I knew them already. Was I having these revelations because I was more “educated” scripturally? Was I more mature in my relationship with Christ so I could see things that I wasn’t ready to see before? Was it because the Bible is God’s living word, and that is how God talks to me? Or was it because I was finally paying attention? The answer is yes! Yes, to all of those questions.

There are some things that a 9-year-old just isn’t ready to understand. The Bible is full of things that this 41-year-old isn’t ready to understand! My desire to have communication with God has caused me to pay more attention to His Word! It has been a blessing to reread some of these stories. The Bible is God’s inerrant, living word. As we mature and go through different seasons in our life, He will speak into our lives through His Word. Do yourself a favor, go back and reread the story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2 & 3). Before you do, go someplace quiet, ask God to reveal more to you, more than you have already seen, as much as you are ready to see. Do this whenever you read His Word. I promise that you will see something that you have never seen before.

2 Timothy 3:16

Truth is…….

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My mom has 2 sisters and 1 brother. She is the 2nd youngest of the siblings. My grandparents were married over 50 years before my grandfather passed away (right at 60, I believe). I have 1 sister and 4 cousins. So there was always a good size crowd at family dinners or holidays. We were a close family. I am the oldest grandchild by 2 years. Then 3 were born in August of the same year. There must have been a cold winter or a long power outage or a bunch of rain in Florida 9 months before then! Anyway, then a few years later the last 2 were born. The 6 cousins got along OK most of the time. There were 3 boys and 3 girls, so the teams were even. However, like most kids there was always a little mischief. Things got broken, feelings got hurt, explosions, small fires, and people got tied up and left behind the barn…you know, little things. Like most kids, the other 5 never knew anything when they were interrogated by the adults. I on the other hand would go ahead and give it up, and usually in great detail. The problem was that I was usually the “most guilty”. I just didn’t like there to be any lingering consequences. I would rather face the punishment at the time and move on. Admirable quality, right? I mean aren’t we supposed to tell the truth? Friends and family actually valued my opinion because I gave them the truth, at least my perspective of the truth. I could have open and honest discussions with people. If I had an issue or disagreement with someone, I could go to them and tell them how I felt and listened to their concerns and we went back about our business.

As I got older and entered adulthood, I noticed that things didn’t seem to work the same way. Somehow the virtue of speaking the truth was not as celebrated as it was when I was younger?!? I must disclose that I sometimes tend to be a wee-bit harsh. To be honest the harshness comes from holding back the truth too long and the crack in my filter bursts and then it all spills out. When I worked at Skinner’s, there was a saying that everyone used “Truth over Harmony”. Everyone used it but only a few meant it! The senior leadership meant it, but not all of the middle management. People would ask a question and when they got the truth, they wanted the harmony part. Differences of opinion, disagreements and issues are going to arise in our lives. We are going to be asked our opinion on subjects and we owe it to them to give them the truth. If we water down, filter or sugar coat the truth too much, we are doing a huge disservice to that person. It is OK to disagree. It is OK to not like someone’s idea. It’s ok to let someone know that they aren’t doing a good job at something. We are supposed to love and respect each other. Respect them enough to tell them the truth and love them enough to do it appropriately! Have the conversation that needs to happen. They may not be happy at the moment, but it is far better to not have doubt or hostility hanging over the situation. Doubt, fear, hostility and awkwardness can be imprisoning! The truth will set you free.

God loved us enough to tell us the truth. He let us know that we are lying, self-centered, prideful sinners. We were imprisoned in our own filth. He sent his Son to save us. And that is THE TRUTH that we all have to tell!

John 3:16-21

per·spec·tive

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  \pər-ˈspek-tiv\   noun

   a :  the interrelation in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed <places the issues in proper perspective>; also :  point of view

   b :  the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance <trying to maintain my perspective

Some of the things that I avoided when I was younger have turned out to be things that I celebrate and cherish now. One of those is diversity in people. I love being around people of different ages, backgrounds, races, upbringings, vocations, politics, nationalities and even religions.

All of us view life through different lenses. Our differences start with the fact that we are all unique, one of a kind, God created individuals. So this means not one of us sees anything through our “life lens” exactly the same way. No two lenses are the same from the beginning. Then we add a different layer or option to the lens for each uncontrollable variable in life; social, economic, environmental, geographic, genetic….etc. Life experience, either positive or negative, can polish or scratch our lens. We also have to include our choices in the mix. Some people want to see the world brightly so they may opt for the yellow tint, others choose a grey tint and yes I am sure a few will ask for an abstract pattern lens.

How can we expect anyone to view anything the same as we do? If we constantly allow our emotions to cause a division, then we will never be able to value perspectives different from ours. This is not to say that every perspective is correct. There is value in discussion and disagreement! We can have convictions, opinions and can even be completely correct on a subject but we also need to be open minded enough to hear another perspective. Growth happens through this type of interaction. I can still love and value people even when we don’t agree. Our recent culture tends prevent relationships from flourishing when perspective is misaligned.

Do yourself a favor and take the time to view the world through as many different lenses as possible. You don’t have to compromise your values and convictions, but it will give insight into how others view the world. Remember that there is a story behind every “lens”, stories of great joy, great struggle, heartbreak, triumph, ignorance and wisdom.

Revelation 7:9-17