Spring is here; at least, it is where I live in California. The vegetable garden is planted, and the flower beds and vases are full to overflowing with the perennials I planted last year. I love perennial flowers because you can plant them, and in just two years, you can divide them and get twice three times, and sometimes ten times the plants you originally paid for, only one. That’s a great deal.
Being a Christian is like being a perennial. You can multiply your kindness, generosity, caring, serving others, and growing and seeding the earth with others who follow Christ. Is it hard? No, it isn’t hard, but it does take intention and not looking for something in return once you do something. That’s called being unselfish.
When I am kind to another person, it doesn’t matter if I know them or not. When I smile and say thank you to another person, I am not looking for anything in return; that’s called being polite. When I give someone a present, a dozen eggs from my laying hens or a bouquet of flowers, I do it because I want to, not because I am looking for something in return. I do not feel entitled to anything except respect. Respect for who I am in God’s eyes.
Over the years, I have mentored, coached, and counseled men and women who feel they lack something or that life is out to get them in some way or that they deserve more than they have. This isn’t living; this is being a taker, not a giver.
We all would like to blame someone or something for our lot in life, that’s normal, but that doesn’t mean it is true. There is a verse in the Bible that talks about Satan roaming around like a lion looking to devour something. Well, you can look at this statement in two ways. If Satan [the lion] devours you, you are done. However, if he distracts you, over and over again, it is like dying a thousand times, and he really delights in making you miserable over and over and over again. When you find yourself repeatedly running into trouble, challenges, roadblocks, disappointments, and so on, that isn’t God; that is Satan distracting you to get you off course.
I once heard a pastor say this: “God never compares what He creates!” Do you know what that means? Once God created everything in Genesis, you will remember He looked at what He created and said, “…it was good….” He didn’t say, I could have made this one a little taller or a little brighter in color, or the blue of the ocean a different shade of blue. No, He saw that what He created was good. No comparison. The same is true for you! He made you perfectly in your mother’s womb, and He fashioned you there. He put you on this earth for a specific purpose and reason, and you are perfect for that gifting.
In closing here, I would like to ask you:
“Who is God turning you into?”
“What are you called to do?”
“Who are you called to be?”
“Who are you called to serve?”
We each need to see ourselves as God sees us. And we each need to see others as God sees them.
