Fourthmeal Thoughts
I remember when I when I was in middle school my friend Tylor had this Hippopotamus (yes I needed to use spell check on that word) sticker and would always refer to it as his hippo-crite. For some reason that seemed more funny then than it does now, but I think that is at that time I didn't really look at hypocrisy as a huge issue. Yet, as we get older we notice these "hypocrisies" and "hypocrites" more often. Why? Well, I think that the answer is quite obvious. We have a need to point a finger at somebody to relieve ourselves of any guilty, blame, failure, etc. It seems so easy to point out others faults, and I think we all know this well, but it is like any Biblical Virtue: We really don't get it until we practice it. I guess this was more of a random, late-night thought that I wanted to relieve from my pool of thoughts. It makes it easier to sleep that way.
So what exactly caused me to begin this particular entry? Seeing people lie through their teeth, and then they turn around acting like they honestly care about you. What a bogus feeling. I truly hate seeing others suffer through something cause by a "friend". How can you save them from the hurt that they are going to deal with when they finally realize that they have been lied to for the past *whatever amount of time*. Is that really fair? Again, we all know that God is doing something through this. Yet, there are many times that trias do not seem to have a clear path or end to them. Well, at least not immediately or even earthly.
I'm not saying that I haven't contradicted myself in anyway. My good friend had recently just called me out on how I expect much from others, but do not always give as much as I expected to those who deserve it (or don't)--> in all, it is not considered living Christ-like if you are not showing compassion to others. That is the ultimate end to hypocrisy,or any sinful behavior: lack of compassion. Or is it? I feel it is, until I am corrected.
The other thing that has been eating away at me is the selfishness of people. I believe this is something that God has really been teaching me about this past year. Through my relationship with Sara, my situations at Moody, and much, much more. Can somebody answer me, please!? Why are people so selfish? Do we really think that fulfilling our own desires will solve anything? It is a constant and unending issue.
I'm sure there has been much more bothering me lately, but who really wants to be stuck in a selfish, pitiful rut? Nobody.So what is the end result? What needs to be learned here? How do I attempt to combat this? Well first I check myself. I ask God what He wants to reveal to me about my own Christian walk. What do I need to change? My attitude? My response? Next, I seek to know what God is revealing to me about the other person or the issue. What can I really learn from this, specifically not including my person gain? How do I need to react to this person/situation? Finally, I react to it. I take these two sought out questions, and I confront the myself, the issue, and/or the person that needs it.
Is this really a great way to handle it? Let me know what you think...
Thanks be to God!
So what exactly caused me to begin this particular entry? Seeing people lie through their teeth, and then they turn around acting like they honestly care about you. What a bogus feeling. I truly hate seeing others suffer through something cause by a "friend". How can you save them from the hurt that they are going to deal with when they finally realize that they have been lied to for the past *whatever amount of time*. Is that really fair? Again, we all know that God is doing something through this. Yet, there are many times that trias do not seem to have a clear path or end to them. Well, at least not immediately or even earthly.
I'm not saying that I haven't contradicted myself in anyway. My good friend had recently just called me out on how I expect much from others, but do not always give as much as I expected to those who deserve it (or don't)--> in all, it is not considered living Christ-like if you are not showing compassion to others. That is the ultimate end to hypocrisy,or any sinful behavior: lack of compassion. Or is it? I feel it is, until I am corrected.
The other thing that has been eating away at me is the selfishness of people. I believe this is something that God has really been teaching me about this past year. Through my relationship with Sara, my situations at Moody, and much, much more. Can somebody answer me, please!? Why are people so selfish? Do we really think that fulfilling our own desires will solve anything? It is a constant and unending issue.
I'm sure there has been much more bothering me lately, but who really wants to be stuck in a selfish, pitiful rut? Nobody.So what is the end result? What needs to be learned here? How do I attempt to combat this? Well first I check myself. I ask God what He wants to reveal to me about my own Christian walk. What do I need to change? My attitude? My response? Next, I seek to know what God is revealing to me about the other person or the issue. What can I really learn from this, specifically not including my person gain? How do I need to react to this person/situation? Finally, I react to it. I take these two sought out questions, and I confront the myself, the issue, and/or the person that needs it.
Is this really a great way to handle it? Let me know what you think...
Thanks be to God!