Who Do You Want To Be?
I feel like my mind has been in constant "think" mode since last week. Every time I log onto Facebook, which if I'm being honest is entirely too many times per day, I'm flooded with shared articles and blogs, rainbow tinted profile pictures, police brutality videos, debates about flags, and arguments flying in every possible corner. Whatever happened to Facebook just being a place to post fun pictures, and real life being for real conversations? It's caused me to constantly think about religion and how it should or shouldn't cross over into politics, about propaganda in the media and how much of it is even remotely true, but mostly it's made me think about our humanity.
Our world is changing. Not that it was ever within my control, but recent events continue to remind me how little control I actually do have. Sure, I can cast my vote, I can have conversations and develop my own opinions, I can raise my kid how I want, I can decide what food I put in my body or what birth control method I prefer, but in the world at large my control is slim to none. I can pretend I'm in control and have power to change the world, but when it's all said and done I'm responsible for me. Not my government or my friend or my church or spouse, but for me. I do have control over me.
I've been so burdened over the last week by what I've seen on Facebook. The rainbow profile pictures don't bother me, and of course people are allowed to post whatever already overstated and sometimes ignorant or even untrue articles and blog posts if they want, but if I had a dollar for every ugly or unkind word I've read I would be out shopping right now. See, I think we're all disturbingly distracted right now. We think it's about gay rights or racism or corrupt policemen, but it's not. Are all of those things worthy of discussion? YES. Should those issues be investigated, talked about, changed? YES. But they shouldn't be at the center.
If you follow Jesus, He should always be at the center and so should His word and what it says. Not your personal opinion or feelings, but what He says is True. Sometimes that doesn't feel good and it rubs up against what we think we know, but His word is there to be a foundation for our lives, not a reference book when it's convenient. As Jesus followers we can't kick and scream and point fingers at people who don't buy into what Jesus says; we can't hold other people to the standards and values we walk in. If you don't follow Jesus, I don't expect Jesus to be at your center. Various things could be at your center- family, health and wellness, friends, your career- and those things aren't bad things, but I think we can all say that sometimes we get easily distracted from what really matters. Life is fleeting, and our days are numbered. When it's all said and done what do we want our legacies to be? Who do we want to be?
The answer to the questions above are going to be different for different people. Every person has a job to do in this world that no one else can do in that specific way thus making everyone's legacy different, unique, and valuable. Our legacies don't necessarily have to be giant land marks in our lives. They can be cooking healthy meals, spending quality time with our babes or others around us, teaching in a low income school, or mowing your neighbor's lawn because it's the kind thing to do. The small choices we make EVERY SINGLE DAY help to make our legacies what they are, but how easily distracted we become with petty banter on Facebook. We forget that kindness and love are more important than having our beliefs and opinions heard from the rooftops, and that people are more important than politics, disagreements, or differences. We may not have control over the bigger picture, but we each do have control over the words that spill from our mouths and over the way we treat other people.
As life unravels and things feel more chaotic, I want to dwell on these things:
1. I have control over myself. I have the power to represent Jesus well and to love other people around me because it's the right thing to do.
2. I don't want to be distracted by things that don't matter. I want to intentionally choose to stay focused on what matters and to continue to make choices that weave my personal legacy with threads that are valuable. I don't want to be easily satisfied with petty things that fade away and don't matter when life is stripped down to it's bones.
3. I want to be kind. I want the words of my words to uplift those around me and to leave people loved and cared for. Not debated against or argued with.
These are reminders for myself. I'm far from perfect and too often stick my over opinionated foot in my mouth, which sometimes doesn't have room to fit because of the crow that's already occupying it. I am still growing and maturing and trying to let myself be stripped of the ugly pieces of my heart that don't belong, but I want love to win. Not in a cheap, self satisfying way, but in a real and true kind of way. I want love to win in my own heart, and I want it to spill out and cover others in a way that leaves them feeling compelled. Who do you want to be today in the midst of all this chaos? Are the choices you're making helping you to weave that daily legacy? Maybe today should be a day to stop, to re-evaluate, to keep our mouths shut and our hearts open, and to make some choices that leave people feeling loved.
Our world is changing. Not that it was ever within my control, but recent events continue to remind me how little control I actually do have. Sure, I can cast my vote, I can have conversations and develop my own opinions, I can raise my kid how I want, I can decide what food I put in my body or what birth control method I prefer, but in the world at large my control is slim to none. I can pretend I'm in control and have power to change the world, but when it's all said and done I'm responsible for me. Not my government or my friend or my church or spouse, but for me. I do have control over me.
I've been so burdened over the last week by what I've seen on Facebook. The rainbow profile pictures don't bother me, and of course people are allowed to post whatever already overstated and sometimes ignorant or even untrue articles and blog posts if they want, but if I had a dollar for every ugly or unkind word I've read I would be out shopping right now. See, I think we're all disturbingly distracted right now. We think it's about gay rights or racism or corrupt policemen, but it's not. Are all of those things worthy of discussion? YES. Should those issues be investigated, talked about, changed? YES. But they shouldn't be at the center.
If you follow Jesus, He should always be at the center and so should His word and what it says. Not your personal opinion or feelings, but what He says is True. Sometimes that doesn't feel good and it rubs up against what we think we know, but His word is there to be a foundation for our lives, not a reference book when it's convenient. As Jesus followers we can't kick and scream and point fingers at people who don't buy into what Jesus says; we can't hold other people to the standards and values we walk in. If you don't follow Jesus, I don't expect Jesus to be at your center. Various things could be at your center- family, health and wellness, friends, your career- and those things aren't bad things, but I think we can all say that sometimes we get easily distracted from what really matters. Life is fleeting, and our days are numbered. When it's all said and done what do we want our legacies to be? Who do we want to be?
The answer to the questions above are going to be different for different people. Every person has a job to do in this world that no one else can do in that specific way thus making everyone's legacy different, unique, and valuable. Our legacies don't necessarily have to be giant land marks in our lives. They can be cooking healthy meals, spending quality time with our babes or others around us, teaching in a low income school, or mowing your neighbor's lawn because it's the kind thing to do. The small choices we make EVERY SINGLE DAY help to make our legacies what they are, but how easily distracted we become with petty banter on Facebook. We forget that kindness and love are more important than having our beliefs and opinions heard from the rooftops, and that people are more important than politics, disagreements, or differences. We may not have control over the bigger picture, but we each do have control over the words that spill from our mouths and over the way we treat other people.
As life unravels and things feel more chaotic, I want to dwell on these things:
1. I have control over myself. I have the power to represent Jesus well and to love other people around me because it's the right thing to do.
2. I don't want to be distracted by things that don't matter. I want to intentionally choose to stay focused on what matters and to continue to make choices that weave my personal legacy with threads that are valuable. I don't want to be easily satisfied with petty things that fade away and don't matter when life is stripped down to it's bones.
3. I want to be kind. I want the words of my words to uplift those around me and to leave people loved and cared for. Not debated against or argued with.
These are reminders for myself. I'm far from perfect and too often stick my over opinionated foot in my mouth, which sometimes doesn't have room to fit because of the crow that's already occupying it. I am still growing and maturing and trying to let myself be stripped of the ugly pieces of my heart that don't belong, but I want love to win. Not in a cheap, self satisfying way, but in a real and true kind of way. I want love to win in my own heart, and I want it to spill out and cover others in a way that leaves them feeling compelled. Who do you want to be today in the midst of all this chaos? Are the choices you're making helping you to weave that daily legacy? Maybe today should be a day to stop, to re-evaluate, to keep our mouths shut and our hearts open, and to make some choices that leave people feeling loved.
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