Well, Would You Look at That?

 

"For this is the message you have heard from the beginning:  You should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.  And why did he murder him?  Because his own actions were evil and his brother's righteous " I John 3:11

 

We are all familiar with the story of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve's first children.  The first-ever humans born through procreation on this Earth.  Because Cain chose to disobey and dishonor God, his brother's right actions irked him.  They irritated him to the point that he sulked with God and killed his brother  Many an intriguing movie plot has since been written.  Why?  It is the age-old dilemma of rivalry.  We want to be the best and do not appreciate someone else making us look bad.

Comparing ourselves with others pretty much always turns out bad.  If we compare to others and seem better than them, we have set the stage for pride and a critical spirit.  If we compare ourselves to others and they look better, we have set ourselves up for self-hatred and low self-esteem.   Truly, it is best if we judge ourselves against our own personal best.  I need to try to do a better job this time than last time, rather than trying to out-do someone else.  There will always be someone who sings better, dresses better, looks better, writes better, teaches better or does better arts and crafts.   Life cannot be about comparison, rather it must be about appreciation.

In addition, we need to judge ourselves, instead, against the Word of  God.  That will never lead us astray.  Looking in the Bible, I may realize that I did a fabulous job pulling off an event,  but bombed entirely in keeping a right attitude during it.  The Bible always calls us upward, to higher and more noble purposes.

Yesterday we talked about lovers, today we talk about haters.  There is such a fine line, at times, between the two.  Choosing a love walk can help combat the temptation to fall into sin and a wrong attitude with someone else.  Since we cannot be "wrong" with someone else and "right" with God, we must strive to strike a healthy balance in our relationships with others and our perceptions of their actions.  John Bevere talks about the importance of not judging another person's heart motivations. He proposes that if we can steer clear of  that, it will circumvent the tendency to wrongly judge another.  I can see what you do, but I cannot truly know why you do it.  Let us endeavor to judge our own actions and leave others in the hands of God.

Dear Lord, forgive me for being negative, critical and arrogant in my view of others.  Help me to keep my eyes on you, instead. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Sherri