“YOU HAVE MENTAL PROBLEMS!!!”
Can you believe that’s what my 311 girl said to me today? She hates that I “lecture” her! I asked her what about our conversations would make her think I had mental problems. Is it because I tell you to be strong for your family? To be a wise woman and support and encourage your husband and not give up on him because your kids are counting on both of you to support them. Is it because I tell you to stop repeating and constantly replaying the same hurts and disappointments repeatedly and forgive your husband? Is it because I tell you to wake up every day and have appointments with God so He can give you the wisdom to make better decisions and assist your husband in doing the same? What can I say? I’m a tough friend to have, but it’s entirely out of love I correct her! I told her, though, as I was “lecturing her,” I’m talking to myself too!!! NO ONE GETS IT RIGHT ALL THE TIME!!! (HUGE SMILE)
I’ve asked her to listen to the Ceri recordings on our “We Roll With God” YouTube channel because they are helping me to wake up every day and work on myself. I especially love this one:
“Matthew 7: 1-6 says:
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged, for you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.”
.. I’m pretty sure that I fell asleep self-reflecting because reading this back just now, it jogged my memory just thinking about some thoughts that I had earlier, and that’s just realizing how important it is to clean your own act up. Right? I’m not perfect. You know I’ll be the first person to sit there and tell people that I’m not perfect, I’m far from it, but most importantly, I don’t pretend to be. I know that I’m a sinner I know that like I am not perfect in the eyes of the Lord. I’m not perfect in the eyes of man, but every day I get up, I work on myself. I try just a little bit to be a better person every single day. I try not to repeat what it is that I did before. And you know that’s what really technically the definition of repentance is, you know. Repentance doesn’t mean that I go to God, and I say sorry. Repentance means that you repent from it. You don’t do it again. You go to God, and you say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry for this,’ but you intentionally go out there and try to intentionally not do whatever it is you did again… Repentance is you constantly changing yourself. And that’s why God told us in this particular verse, like how could you look at somebody and tell them that they have a speck in their eye when you have a log in your own?
The reason why is a speck in their eyes is because that’s all that you see. You judge someone by the little bit you see when God knows all, and he isn’t judging that person. But we come right here with our big eyes knowing all the bad things we do, and we’re quick to point fingers at somebody and say, ‘Oh this person ain’t living this way. This one ain’t righteous. This one ain’t doing this. This one is doing that. But what have we done to repent for our sins? Have we changed? Have you woken up this morning to do something and intentionally not do it again because you know you already promised God that you won’t do this anymore?
At the end of the day, many of the responsibilities carried on in our lives as humans have to do with how we treat others and, most importantly, how we look at ourselves. If we are Christians, we have to live Christ-like. Christ reminded us to do two things: love him and love others. Loving others goes unconditionally if we want to be Christians. If we want to be with the definition of a Christian is, that requires us to remove that log from our eye. To look at people with love. To add just a little bit more kindness, no matter how mad they make you. No matter how hurt you feel because at the end of the day, what we see in them, what we mad at them for, is just a speck. And God isn’t mad, and God forgive them, and God offered them the luxury of repentance the same as he did to us. So why would we sit back and judge them for the little that they do. The little that we see, knowing within ourselves that we continuously sin every single day? So, that is something that I’m mindful of in my life. That is something that I know that I have to work on in myself. And in my act of repentance, I try my best to not do the same things that I do over and over again.”
PLEASE DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING!!! WE’RE ALL IN THIS HUMAN EXPERIENCE TOGETHER!!!!