March 10, 2009
It's The Thought That Counts
Sometimes when we run up against a really difficult person who negatively affects our lives we’d like someone or something to just take them out of the equation. Not that we’d wish them ill, but scenarios can run through our head as to the easiest way for God to dispose of the agitator. Most of us are good at justifying our thoughts and even taking them captive, it’s making them obedient to Christ that’s the hard part. “…and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (II Cor 10:5b NIV)
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3 comments:
Gail;
-----Our thoughts and feelings are the treasure of our hearts and minds out of which we speak and act. Proverbs tells us to guard them. Paul says we take them captive and make them obedient to Christ. When thinking about these things, I like to recognize that Jesus is called the Truth. Making thought obedient to Christ is holding it responsible to truth. One truth is, again by Paul’s assertion, that we all see dimly as through a mirror. That is why I appreciate people who negatively effect my life. Nobody is completely devoid of good. If someone has negatively effected me, possibly that person is right, or at least partially right, and I am wrong, at least partially. This means I must make an honest examination of the issue at hand, my perspective regarding it, and theirs. Such examination is generally a reassessment, because we all pretty much have assessed the issues of our lives. The perspective of the person who has negatively effected me is the new information for reassessment. New information usually leads to new insight. And I like that.
-----The challenge is always present to make this reassessment without bias. Meeting that challenge is what we call walking in the other person’s shoes. It requires imagination, honesty, and open minded consideration of everything we know about the other person. Sometimes we may even have to go to the other person to learn more about their position regarding the issue. The goal is to know to the best of our ability as many of the situation’s facts and circumstances as is possible, and then to resign to them. Who and what the other person is and how he thinks and feels are part of the facts and circumstances, and therefore, part of the reality of the matter. It is the essence of humility to allow our conclusions to be captured by reality without sway towards ourselves or others.
-----But humility is not an automatic climb into the back seat. It does not mean certain resignation to someone else or to their ideas. Rather, it means resignation to the truth. Even though we see dimly as through a mirror, certain truths remain recognizable. The greatest is that Jesus is the Christ, and Satan is the Destroyer. We can even see the difference between an elephant and a mouse through the dim mirror, and we can discern between murder and benevolence, corruption and integrity, love and lust. When such discernment has become definite, then humility requires a stand for it to be taken. When one stands strongly for right, he is often accused of arrogance, especially when his discernment has delved into the issue more than have most others. But it is actually arrogance to not stand for the truth one has come to know.
-----When I have concluded by honest examination what is right concerning an issue, and another effects me negatively regarding it, I will assess the new information he brings simply to be sure I have not missed anything. But I will not automatically climb into the back seat and abandon what is real. Once my thoughts have been thoroughly examined and shaped into the substance of the truth, they are now captive to the truth. They must not be resigned and set free to be molested by deceit. Therefore, my appreciation of someone who negatively effects me is also for the opportunity to sharpen my skills at respectfully standing up for what is right.
-----I must recognize that the truth I know is seen dimly, as through a mirror, lest I try to take others’ thoughts captive to my errors. The benefit of the doubt belongs to others, lest I plant the seed of bias inside myself. The line of doubt is a tricky ledge we all must walk. If we doubt too much we stand for nothing and subject our community to every form of malice and deceit. Our land has come to be led by doubters, and we now see the seeds of their thoughts growing into a forest of menacing saplings. If we doubt too little we walk all over the feet of our neighbors and become the ones negatively effecting them. So we must consider the narrowness of the ledge. But it is wide enough to stand and walk upon, and, although we see it dimly as through a mirror it remains discernable, because it is everything that is basically right. It is the simple truth. And by its nature, when we constrain our thoughts to it, we arrive at Jesus’ Throne, hopefully with others whom we have positively effected.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Steve, I like what you said about others who negatively affect our lives. My first reaction to be annoyed, but realizing I can learn something...that's a concept I'll have to look into deeper! Thanks, Leslie
Leslie;
-----Thank you. When people negatively effect me, I might go through one of a variety of emotions, too. But I continue training myself to treat my emotions like idiot lights. Idiot lights are those little indicator lights on the dashboard of your car. The most annoying one to me is the “check engine” light. Right! Check it for what? Did I spill oil on it? Or do I have a rod stuck through a piston laying in the oil pan? An idiot light just says, “Man! You got a problem!” And that’s all emotions do. When that “check engine” light comes on, the intended response is to plug your car into a computer and get some informational analysis. When a negative emotion comes on in me, I try to calm it and put it to rest, and then I try to examine the situation and myself looking for the problem and its solutions.
-----When Paul said to be angry, but not to let the sun go down on your anger, I am sure he was referring to constraining it to a short period of time. And I accept. But, I also like to think of not letting the sun go down on it as not letting the anger exist in the darkness. We examine by the light, so we have to keep the anger in the light and out of the darkness. While the sun is up we can see clearly and examine closely.
-----So I never feel like I’ve failed or have done wrong simply because a negative emotion wells up in response to an issue. I feel inadequate only when I fail to pat the emotion on the head a bit, scratch it behind the ears, and get it back to sleep on the front porch where it can alert me to the next intruder. I don’t fret the emotion. I just do my best to keep it in the sun.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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