Flawed (Part 3)
Romans 8:1-4 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
There is more right with you than wrong with you.
Romans 8:1-4 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
There is more right with you than wrong with you.
Most people tend to focus more on their perceived flaws, but it helps to
remember that there are lots of things they like about themselves as well. From the moment you are conceived, right up until the moment you take your last breath, you have to fight to remind yourself there is something good in you because of the mercy of God.
It’s very easy to lose sight of how much God loves you. When something good happens to you, you don’t celebrate much and so don’t take it in. When you do celebrate it’s often almost momentary, yet you obsess about your flaws more than your positives.
Imagine someone has said a lie about you. You’ll recall that event to your mind over and over. Sometimes you’ll elaborate the thought by imagining retaliations on your part. By sheer repetition, and by vividly imagining the scene over and over again, you carve pathways of anger and resentment into your mind. Then the devil reminds you of your flawed nature. Yet, if a friend says something complimentary about you, you experience a lift in your mood for a few minutes. Unless you’re a very unusual person you probably don’t find yourself, months later, thinking about the compliment you were paid in the same way you would with an insult. That's where the flaws come in and grab you.
You obsess over things that you think are wrong with you. You think over and over about the habits you want to change, and mentally beat yourselves up over them, whether it’s that you think you’re lazy, or cowardly, or too unkind. You ignore all your good habits and instead, let your mind drift. And what does it drift to? Half the time you’re probably giving ourselves a hard time about your faults!
So how often do you celebrate what's right about you instead of your flaws? Hardly ever, for most of you.
So I’m going to suggest that you devote more mental space to celebrating and rejoicing in the ordinary things that are going right, and that you’re doing right, in your life.
-You’re a miracle created by God, transformed in His likeness, and save by His grace.
-Rejoice in the fact that your body is forever trying to heal itself, and that most things in your body are in fact functioning.
-Rejoice that you have access to clean drinking water, clean air, and food.
-Rejoice you have clothing, possessions, and the means to make ends meet. If you’re poor and live in the developed world, you’re probably still richer than 90% of the world’s population.
-Rejoice over your blessings of family and friends.
-Celebrate the fact that you’re alive and that you’re able to celebrate.
It’s very easy to lose sight of how much God loves you. When something good happens to you, you don’t celebrate much and so don’t take it in. When you do celebrate it’s often almost momentary, yet you obsess about your flaws more than your positives.
Imagine someone has said a lie about you. You’ll recall that event to your mind over and over. Sometimes you’ll elaborate the thought by imagining retaliations on your part. By sheer repetition, and by vividly imagining the scene over and over again, you carve pathways of anger and resentment into your mind. Then the devil reminds you of your flawed nature. Yet, if a friend says something complimentary about you, you experience a lift in your mood for a few minutes. Unless you’re a very unusual person you probably don’t find yourself, months later, thinking about the compliment you were paid in the same way you would with an insult. That's where the flaws come in and grab you.
You obsess over things that you think are wrong with you. You think over and over about the habits you want to change, and mentally beat yourselves up over them, whether it’s that you think you’re lazy, or cowardly, or too unkind. You ignore all your good habits and instead, let your mind drift. And what does it drift to? Half the time you’re probably giving ourselves a hard time about your faults!
So how often do you celebrate what's right about you instead of your flaws? Hardly ever, for most of you.
So I’m going to suggest that you devote more mental space to celebrating and rejoicing in the ordinary things that are going right, and that you’re doing right, in your life.
-You’re a miracle created by God, transformed in His likeness, and save by His grace.
-Rejoice in the fact that your body is forever trying to heal itself, and that most things in your body are in fact functioning.
-Rejoice that you have access to clean drinking water, clean air, and food.
-Rejoice you have clothing, possessions, and the means to make ends meet. If you’re poor and live in the developed world, you’re probably still richer than 90% of the world’s population.
-Rejoice over your blessings of family and friends.
-Celebrate the fact that you’re alive and that you’re able to celebrate.
We really need to make an effort to celebrate, because of your mind’s inherent negativity bias. You need to consciously celebrate in order to carve pathways associated with joy and love into the fabric of your brain. There’s more right with you than wrong with you and that in itself is something to be grateful for thru Jesus Christ our Lord.
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