The question IS the answer

Most of us have heard about affirmations. You say something positive that you would like to be true over and over to train your mind to accept the new belief.

Example:

I am healthy

But all of us know that there's that other little voice inside our heads that says "that's not true, I still have the flu" every time we say the affirmation. Mixing a positive thought with a negative one pretty much cancels the postive thought.

But what if you said:

Why am I so healthy? What do I do to be so healthy?

Well, first of all, your mind assumes you are healthy. Secondly, it starts looking for the answer to your question. And you start finding solutions.

Next time, instead of beating yourself up because of negative things you believe about yourself like Why am I so disorganised ... why not ask yourself Why am I so organised? And see if your mind doesn't start coming up with ways for you to be organised!

Forgive Yourself!

God commands and expects us to forgive (see Matthew 18 amongst many other scriptures).

While most of us struggle to forgive someone at some stage in our lives, we struggle to forgive ourselves even more!

Love should not just be reserved for God and our fellow man. We should love ourselves too..

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’*
Matthew 22:37-39

I think we struggle with forgiving ourselves because it feels like we take ourselves off the hook and we're scared that we will allow ourselves to "get away" with what we did. Or, it is easier to blame ourselves than the other person because of self-image issues.

Well, I have a tendency to beat myself up if I had a difference of opinion with someone or if someone criticises me.

Recently I had a disagreement with my girlfriend. We didn't have much time together and then she had to go to a business meeting and I wanted to honour our commitment to visit my folks. So we went our separate ways for the morning which was not what we had planned to do. I decided to ask God forgiveness and then just forgive myself, forgive her and express what I really wanted. I was then able to say how I value her and that I don't like having to spend most of the day apart either, but that I would like her to join me at church that evening so we could at least spend that time together. And boy did I feel good!! Free! And my girlfriend got over our disagreement much quicker than usual and was able to be loving towards me again. And she joined me at church in a good mood and not the surliness that usually followed one of our disagreements.

So give it a try. And feel the joyous freedom that follows.

Serving

Serving. It's hard. It's uncomfortable. It's not natural.

Okay, so maybe as women we are more natural at serving in our roles of wife or mother. But don't tell me it's easy to serve when you feel like you are doing everything while your spouse, kids or co-workers don't lend a helping hand. When it feels like you are running around 24/7 while they sit around and wait for you to do everything for them.

Me? Well, I rebel in a situation like the above. If you can do it yourself, and you are just too lazy to do it, don't expect ME to do it. Okay?!

But is that what Jesus would expect of me?

Here are a few passages that talk about serving, working.

John 13:13-17
You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Colossians 3:23-24
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.


Yes, God expects us to humble ourselves and serve others. To help others in need. I'm just not sure that includes waiting on someone like a slave.

I'm making this an issue of prayer. If you have any opinions, why not leave a comment or email me at nirakia@gmail.com

One thing I have realised by doing just a teensy bit of research, is that Jesus took on the role of a slave when he washed his disciples' feet. That was something the slave of the household usually did. Food for thought!


*Scripture references from the New Living Translation