“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” —Matthew
12:34
How do you approach life?
I mean .. as you live from one event to another .. from one breath to
another breath … what is it that determines how you respond to the events in
your life? What you think .. what you do
.. what you say. As Christians we have a
choice, actually. Because this new life
we live, we live in the flesh by faith (Galatians 2:20), we can choose to
respond in the natural or in the supernatural.
We can respond as the world does, or we can respond like Jesus did. How you respond is determined by the true disposition
of your heart. If you see your new life
as merely an attribute, like being a citizen of the United States or having red
hair, then you are in trouble spiritually.
You can hope to respond to life differently, but it is not going to
happen. Often times, we confuse
spiritual response with natural constraint.
Let me explain by example.
Mary is talking to you when she says something that is very
offensive. How do you respond?
Naturally, you are thinking an unkind thought, but you restrain yourself
so as not to give how you really feel away.
Spiritually, you are not affected by the words, but see Mary’s heart,
the source of what comes out of her mouth, and pray for her. You hold no grudge against her, but have
forgiven her for the offense. You show
compassion for Mary. Like Jesus did for
those who crucified Him. The offense
will not be logged away in your heart to be pulled up at some time in the
future.
Let’s say your children are like whirlwinds in your
house. They won’t listen so you yell at
them. You just can’t take it
anymore. You can’t help yourself. You are right … your old nature is stronger
than your will to not yell at your children … but your old nature is not
stronger than your new nature, whose source is the Creator God. You will respond to life from the nature that
rules your heart. Not the one that you
want to rule, but the one that sits on the throne. Living supernaturally does not just happen,
it is a deliberate process, yielding your life to God each day, living by
faith, meditating on the Word (when was the last time you read the Bible on
your own?) You are a child of God, don’t
be satisfied with anything less.
People are good at hiding their true feelings – most of the time. Something I have noticed is that when a
significant life event occurs, such as a death in the family, feelings that are
normally hidden are suddenly exposed.
People act in ways, say things, that they typically would not do or say.
Those things that they kept hidden in their hearts are exposed. Why? I think
that the emotional pressure brought on by a death, for example, takes away self-restraint,
and the true nature of people’s hearts are revealed.
Conversely, when my mom passed a number of years ago – friends
from another state showed up at the visitation.
We had no idea they were coming. They came because they cared about
Martie and me and showed the compassion of Jesus. The true nature of their
hearts were revealed, in a good way. I
have never forgotten that act of kindness and compassion.
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