Reactions: Attitudes of Heart, Reflecting Minds

He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” (Luke 16:15 NIV)

Minds

Entitlement seems to permeate many mindsets. Not just in economics, entitlements reach into every avenue in life. What are we to do with these attitudes? We have two choices: 1)Respond with a worldly attitude 2) Respond with Christ’s attitude. Option one will get us no where fast. Option two takes a great amount of discipline. Maybe…a third option- working towards God pleasing reactions, may be best to have no reaction.

Process

I often think I’ve missed my calling as a lobbyist. Whatever I believe in, I stand my ground. I could easily testify before congress defending strong convictions. It’s not about arguing, it’s my conviction to defend. This does not work in daily life. Living in this world set apart, we have to be diligent training reactions to be pleasing to Christ. Then we process our pass/fail grade. We fail this test more in the beginning. As we gain spiritual maturity, reactions become more pleasing.

Reactions

Training times can be grueling. Reactions are ready to burst, hearts are ready to explode. Minds process battle back and forth- option 1 or option 2.  Decompressing, turning thoughts to scripture, helps us overcome. Individuals attempt to justify their actions for sake to be seen in the eyes of men. Plug in your unjust situation. From international to daily lives, injustice happens for one to appear greater in the eyes of men.

Promises

God is large and in charge, He knows every individual’s heart. Causes for actions to be so highly valued among men, are detestable in God’s sight. Which side do we want to be on? The answer to this question chooses our reaction. Our importance is not defined my men. Even if there are individuals who think they have power over you. Aligning ourselves with Christ, He becomes our defender. He becomes our dwelling place, a place of refuge when having to deal  unjust situations. God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. He is closer than a brother.

Forward Friday!

Forward Friday! Moving forward, choosing reactions pleasing to God. Pray for hearts seen as detestable. Do they realize what they are doing? My guess, no. Keeping our eyes on Jesus and recalling scripture, calms our hearts to understand. When God is for us, who can be against us?

Be encouraged!