Making Something Bad Out Of Something Good
1 Corinthians 10:29-31 Amplified Bible (AMP)
29I mean for the sake of his conscience, not yours, [do not eat it]. For why should another man's scruples apply to me and my liberty of action be determined by his conscience? 30If I partake [of my food] with thankfulness, why am I accused and spoken evil of because of that for which I give thanks? 31So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God.
One of the things that used to really hurt my feelings and anger me was to be accused of being something that I am not and doing things for the wrong reasons or people attaching meaning to my actions that were not the truth. I remember as a child, being nice to my mom and really being extra helpful and cleaning up around the house and my mother saying to me, “what is it that you want?” I remember the feelings of being so hurt and feeling as if I had to explain myself and defend my kindness. As I grew older when people would do this, it would fly me into a rage or crush my spirit and I would feel as if I needed to defend myself or explain my actions and ensure that I was understood. As I have grown older, I have come to know for a fact that no one really truly understands me, not even my husband and children. Although they know me but they do not understand all that there is to know about me and they can misread and misunderstand me based upon their own feelings, perceptions, attitudes and experiences. I used to assume that because people were close to me that they understood me and would always attempt to see me for who I really am and based upon my heart and not what was an assumption or perception, but I have learned that we are all people and no matter who they are we can never count on that as a guarantee. I have learned that no matter how much we love God and serve Him, that we can allow emotions, our own insecurities and preconceived notions and expectations to get in the way and taint our perspective and experiences.
Isn’t it funny how our emotions can get the best of us? Isn’t it strange how we can say we love people and begin to think the worst of them, even though we have had relationship with them, for years? Isn’t it weird how we can see God working a situation out and begin to let doubt, fear and confusion become a part of our thinking and before we know it, we have placed a hand in some place it doesn’t belong and messed up God moving? Our mind can play some tricks on us, and our emotions can take us places that the Spirit Of God is trying to keep us from. We often place our definition on people because of our low self-esteem, our experiences, fears and our hurts. For some of us it is easier to lean to the negative even when there are no negative entities, intentions, motives or attitudes in place. Why is this? Why would we rather take on being hurt and angry then to ask God for help with how we are feeling and to ask for His wisdom and guidance; or to ask Him to reveal the truth of what is really going on? Because for many of us our flesh and emotions are still very much in control of whom we are. That is not to say, we don’t love God, it is only to say that we choose to allow these things to be a strong hold in our lives. It only means that we have not allowed our Spirit man to become the controlling interest in our daily lives and our relationships, with God and with man. We were born in sin and shaped in iniquity and if we don’t kill the flesh daily and feed our spirit, our flesh, emotions and thoughts will overrun the spiritual side of us, to gain the controlling interest, and cause us to see things in a negative light and perspective.
God desires for us to live free, because He sent Jesus to set us free. He encourages us in Philippians 4:8, “For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].” Why would we want to place ourselves in a place of bondage and confusion, and to place others in a place of negativity, when God gave us an answer to these things? It is up to us, to look to Him and to place our flesh, our thinking and our emotions under subjection to the Holy Spirit. God has made us more than over comers, but it is up to us to look at what is through the eyes of Christ not the eyes of assumption, emotion or past hurts and pains. God is good, so why would He desire what is bad to surround us, He doesn’t but it can be seen as that, if we allow it to be. The choice is always ours!
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