Hey brothers and sisters.
I just wanna take a minute to encourage you.
Whatever you’re going through is going to come to an end eventually. You might have to fight long and hard for a while, but you’re going to get through it.
Maybe you won’t have to fight hard the whole time, but you may have to fight for a long time.
People might be hating, and they might not want you to get by. They might want to crush you with their actions and their words. They might want to exclude you. They might spread lies about you and try to turn others against you.
You’ve got to focus on the Truth about who you are.
You are a child of God.
You were created in God’s image.
You were created with a purpose.
There is only one of you and only you are equipped to do what God has equipped YOU to do.
You were not created by mistake.
There are NO flaws in your design.
You have strengths.
And yes, you have weaknesses.
Know them. Know and understand your strengths and weaknesses so that you know where and when to seek help. Know your weaknesses so you don’t keep getting discouraged over and over again.
Give yourself time to grow.
Be patient with yourself.
And in turn, be patient with others.
Be patient, even with those that are out to get you. Be patient with the ones that think seeing you fall would benefit them or elevate them in some way.
These are all lies from the evil one. He is out to divide, kill and destroy.
Don’t let him.
When we control our thought lives, we are finally free. When we take every thought captive to Christ, we can see God.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God”.
When those impure thoughts come in, when those lies start pouring in-whether it be from your own mind or the poisonous minds of those toxic individuals in your life- take those thoughts captive:
as in, put those thoughts in CHAINS and present them to the Living God.
Ask God: Lord, give me eyes to see any Truth in this thought. If it is not of you, cast it away. Rid my mind of it. Demolish it. Burn it, shatter it, crush it, and take it. Lift if off of my mind.
But Lord, if there IS any Truth in it, help me embrace it. Help me change. Help me repent of any way that isn’t of you.
Let’s always humble ourselves and be ready to receive from others. Nobody has it all figured out. God uses His people to sharpen other people.
“As iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another”.
Let us be open to constructive criticism, sanctification, and growth.
Let us always be striving to be Christlike. Let us be flexible and prepared to change. Let us be willing to change and sacrifice things, and give up our own preferences or desires for the preferences and desires of others.
We’re all on this journey together to know God and love Him and enjoy Him. Let’s remember that every person that God created should be able to do these things too. Other people aren’t the real enemy. Satan is the real enemy.
Don’t get me wrong, there are hard-hearted people. There are EVIL people. There are hateful people. But let’s remember to put on the lenses of the bible to help us see past the humanness and into the spiritual. Nobody is too far past God’s grace and the free gift of salvation. And while there is breath, there is hope.
So I challenge you:
when they start tearing you down
when they start leaving you out
when they start talkin smack
when they start hatin
when they start beratin
when they start inflatin themselves
humble yourself
acknowledge the grace that God gave you that enables you to see the truth
that enables you to see Him in all of His glory
that enables you to choose God’s way and live a life free of guilt and condemnation
and pray
rise above your selfishness and self-centeredness and taking-things-personally-ness and pray for them
they are the ones that need the prayers
we all need the prayers, don’t get me wrong
but they especially need the prayers
because once you know God
you know love
because God is love
and real love is not out to divide and destroy and push others out the way so you can get to the top
real love lays down one’s life for one’s friends
real love goes last, and lets others go first
real love patiently waits for others in hopes that they will catch up and spiritually see eye to eye
real love
God is real love
GOD BLESS Y’ALL
xxx
<3
V