Focus part 2
Its easy to get distracted. To focus on the wrong things. To let our expectations sabotage us. But just because its easy doesn't mean its right. Sometimes the hard thing to do is the right thing to do. Or sometimes the right thing to do is... nothing at all. And I know that's hard for some people. Its hard to just let things go. To trust that things will work out in the end without us trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Did you ever think about that? If you want that square peg to fit, you need to cut the edges off. And sometimes those edges are what make us special. Those edges are what make us... us. We weren't all created to fit in the same round hole. We need to stop trying to fit into the same religious box. We need to learn to live and let live. To let people be who they are and to love them for WHO they are. You don't have to "fix" everything and everybody. If the Holy Spirit can't convict people to walk the straight and narrow path (that leads to life), do you really think YOU'LL be able to? I don't. And I don't think its our job to control each other. To change each other. To make people fit into our box, or our idea of what--or who--they should be. We see differences as obstacles to overcome. But really we should be embracing each other's differences. Celebrating each other's differences. Our differences are what make us special. If everybody was exactly the same... that would be pretty boring. God doesn't want robots. He doesn't want drones. He doesn't want us just going through the motions in order to try to earn something from Him. He gave us a gift, and He wants us to enjoy it. He wants us to experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. That's why He gave it to us. And we experience that life by letting HIM live it in us, and through us, and as us. We live Jesus' life of love by letting Him love the hell out of us and then loving Him back by loving the hell out of each other. Receiving and releasing the love of God. That should be our focus. Not getting things from people. If you're saying "I love you" to someone in order to get them to say it back to you... that's not love. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. Our focus can't be on getting. That's called being selfish. And that's not ok. That's certainly not love. But if we focus on what we have, instead of what we wish we had, we'll be able to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. We'll be able to enjoy what we have instead of just always trying to get something else. I bring this up a lot but one of my favorite things we said at my old church was, "I have no lack because my God has no lack." That stuck with me. So let's focus on what we have. Let's focus on sharing what we have. Giving what we have. Freely you have been given... freely you can give. One more time: Receive it and release it. Give what you've got. That should be your focus. That's the way to live a life worth living. A life of love. A life of purpose and focus. Making sure to major on the major and minor on the minors. To let people be who they are (instead of who we wish they were) and love them for who they are!