“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with you own life.” ~Galatians 6:4-5 (MSG)
While it takes time to prove that their is great gain in endurance and contentment it isn’t hard to see the consequences of not seeking this heart attitude. Take my life as an example. I know I am more then a mother, I have a complex collection of relationships that I should be sinking myself into, but I choose this calling as this posts example. Who would suffer if I became frustrated with it? It takes very little for me to become selfishly focused… to kick at my responsibilities, rebel against my reality… If I decide I am not going to live creatively as a wife and mother I am the only one who will be responsible for that waste of relationship and opportunity; but I will not suffer alone in my mistake… my children will not have a devoted and attentive mother, my husband will not have the gift I promised him in our vows, that gift being my heart.
Thankfulness is a gift from Christ and as we use it to give him his do it is also a gift back to him. His thankfulness is strength in our lives. It works like a medicine against the destructiveness of misguided focus, discontentment, frustration, and selfishness. A thankful heart will not be drawn into pity parties that result from comparing oneself to others. A thankful heart will find contentment with how life is, even when that seems unrealistic. A thankful heart can not ignore the beauty in our lives despite the intensity of life’s shadows. A thankful heart will be unafraid to examine ones self and ones work and will not be shy about diving into that with intense joy.
May I take the strength Christ offers me to live my life creatively and with umph!
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessings if we don’t give up.”
~Galatians 6:9
TTFN
