Glory part 4
We think of glory as something to be won. Or earned. But really, glory is given. Our God has supplied all our need according to His riches in glory. It was a gift. The gift of God. Eternal life. A life of love. Knowing love. Knowing that you ARE loved. And when you know that you are loved... you can love. When you know what's inside, it WILL come out. It has to. Because whatever you believe is inside--be it love, or hate, or bitterness, or forgiveness, or what--its too big to keep inside. That's why when we try to bottle up our emotions we end up exploding. We end up lashing out. Its not healthy. The Bible even instructs us to cast our cares on the Lord, because He cares for us. We have an outlet. And while prayer goes a long way... I've never thought prayer should just be us griping and complaining all the time. Because A. Your attitude determines your altitude, and we ought to have an attitude of gratitude. And B. Prayer is just as much about listening as it is about talking. I read somewhere that one of the biggest problems people have is that they don't listen to understand, they listen to respond. Like, we know what we know and if this other joker would stop talking we could tell him what we know. But that's not communication. That's not relationship. That's not love. I've found, in my life, that being "right" can sometimes be the worst thing in the world. Because sometimes being "right" only means you know what's going to happen. And what's going to happen doesn't seem very good. So many times, after the fact, people tell me, "You were right. You called it." Yeah, well, that didn't help me stop it. Or change it. So I've started to try to be KIND rather than being right. Because, bottom line, people are going to do what they're going to do whether you're right about it or not. Instead of always needing to be right--and worse yet, needing to prove other people wrong--just be kind. If someone's going to do what they're going to do... let them do it. Love them anyway. Sometimes from a distance, because I still believe its a bad idea to put yourself, or keep yourself, in a bad situation. But fighting with people in order to get them to do what's right--even when you ARE right--isn't going to work. Its not glorious to force people to do, well, anything really. And if you have to force it, or if you have to beg for it, then its not worth it anyway. You can't make people earn your love and affection. Glory is not something to withhold until people jump through your hoops and do what you want them to do. Glory is something that transforms us FROM glory TO glory when we SEE it. When we EXPERIENCE it. When someone gives it to us, or when we give it to someone. But, as always, you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So receive that glory you've been given. That glory that you are. And give it away. Be glorious--not in order to earn glory, but because you have the glory of God. Isaiah 60:1 says what I'm trying to say, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee." We have His glory. It is risen upon us. Because He gave it to us. When He gave Himself to us!