Lesson Learned from Grace to Serve – Part 2
The older I get the one thing that I continue to be astounded by is the bad, immature, and selfish behavior by those around me. I’m not talking about children or even teenagers, but the adults that I encounter on a regular basis. On a day to day basis, I am appalled by the lack of basic social manners and decency towards each other that is displayed. (see my post here about kindness) Scrolling through social media, at times, I’m surprised to see how many of my high school classmates are still behaving just as they did when we were in high school.
Not that I am sitting in a place to judge anyone, but most of my classmates and I are 40 years old now or older. Something about us should have changed and matured a bit. We should be making wiser choices and setting positive examples for the younger ones who are coming up under us.
The same thing applies to us in the Christian life. As my pastor said in Part 2 of his series, Grace to Serve, we have to start to grow up in our relationship with God AND with other people. Day after day, year after year, there is no way we should be the same.
But this is not something that magically happens. When you wake up on your next birthday, you don’t automatically just become a better person. (Ask any child how they feel on their birthday and they’ll tell you “the same as yesterday.”) Getting older doesn’t guarantee wisdom, maturity, nor good, sound judgement. Now, we’re all entitled to our mistakes, but does that mean we should be able to make that same “mistake” over and over again?
Does it mean that we can go through life completely oblivious to how our words and actions impact others?
Of course, it doesn’t. Hence the title of this post: When you know better, do better!
What is your ultimate goal in life? Is it just to please your own selfish nature and then die? Is it to gain a bunch of worldly wealth and then die? Is it just to have all the fun you can have regardless of the consequences and then die? You know the reasoning that You Only Live Once. Some of us have used it as a justification to get away with anything and everything instead of as an opportunity to live a rich, fulfilling life where you worked not only to make yourself happy but to positively impact the world around you.
Every day we have the choice of whether or now we will remain the same or if we will become a better version of ourselves. Pastor told us that we are to work towards maturity in God, that we are to bear much good fruit, and that our ultimate goal is to be more like Him (Jesus).
I’m not sure what that looks like for you, but for me it means being a better person each day, striving to make a positive impact wherever I go, choosing how I will react to situations, and purposely, intentionally choosing to love those who are difficult to love.
I am working to do my part while here on earth and part of that deals with leaving childish things behind and behaving as a grown woman. Thinking, speaking, and reasoning like a grown woman. I may be a child of God, but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t “grow” up.
I will seek the counsel of wise people. I will adjust my attitude, my mindset. I will work hard to see people the way that God does, to serve them for Him. I will work hard to help others achieve their goals. I will not allow greed, jealousy, envy, selfishness, or insecurities to rule me. I will let love be my guide: love for God, love for myself, love for others. I will not rely on myself to do it all either because I know that I can’t do it all alone.
But most of all, I will strive to be more and more like Jesus every day. That is the ultimate goal! Choosing to become more and more like Him is a true sign of maturity.
