Have you ever heard of the saying, "Actions speak louder than words"?
I do not know how many times I have heard this phrase and even used it myself many times. Yet it has been around for a long time.
However, that is not the way Jesus looks at things he looks at what is inward and what is in our hearts. Jesus looks at what our heart's motives are and if we are abiding in his love.
See the thing is, our actions will follow where our heart is going. For many years and times, I had let other people's actions affect me more than I should have.
Also, I had let others walk all over me as a doormat because I did not stand up for myself. I had let their actions and words affect how I saw my own identity. I was wrong to do that.
I was wrong to let other's misjudgments and wrong assumptions affect my identity in Christ. I was wrong to let others misguided perspectives about affect how I saw myself.
My identity is in Christ alone and I am not a mistake but a masterpiece, created in God's image.
So what I have learned is, I had to separate what is my struggles and what was other's struggles were. Then I had to also learn not to take on other's struggles as my own.
For example, I had to learn the way God created me was indeed what he intended. So my meekness and sensitive spirit is not a weakness but a powerful tool to stay in tune with the Holy Spirit. It is a spiritual gift to display the gentle side of God's love within me.
Meek does not always mean passive or being a doormat and letting other people walk over you. It means you are humble, obedient, and gentle.
And the way that I feel deeply or give love deeply is not a weakness but a gift from God to use to reach people in showing unconditional love.
Although I have made mistakes in the past. I have learned when I abide in Christ and yield to his authority and not anyone else's. God can do some amazing miracles through me if I submit to him. God can turn the hardest of hearts back towards him because he is so good.
The truth is in me. I become in tune with the Holy Spirit, then there is a place in my heart for God's love and truth. God's truth sets us free from sin, from our struggles, and it sets us free from taking on other people's sins as well.
In the gospel of John Jesus is talking to some of the Jews who had been following him and believing him. One of their conversations in John 8 is very interesting.
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him," We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, you will become free?"
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever, the Son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father."(John 8:21-38ESV).
Thus, I do not want to be like the Jews in this parable. I want to become more like Christ who is in me and let his truth abide in my spirit and my heart.
I do not want to be a slave to sin. Instead, I want to keep a place hidden within my heart for Jesus' words to have a place.
The Jews did not understand they were enslaved to sin and all the Jewish laws, all the Jewish traditions, all the protocols were making them stumble into sin. Their hearts were hard and cold to what Jesus was declaring to them. Their hearts were following laws, not God's love.
Remember our actions follow where our hearts are going. What we schedule or what we make precedence for is what our hearts are focused on.
Jesus breaks down barriers to look at what is inward not the outward appearance of Man.
People look at the outward appearance and what is evident in what they see. We are all guilty of this and of making wrong assumptions before going to the source to get the truth.
Furthermore, as human beings, we find it easier to believe lies about something or someone, because believing a lie is more appealing than the actual truth.
These actions bring out and reveal the pride in our hearts. Rather than humbling ourselves to go to the source to find the truth.
In the gospel of Matthew, it says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."(Matthew 5:5ESV).
Humility is being able to admit you're wrong and turn away from the sin which is a stumbling block.
Meekness and humility are about having the ability to make room for God.
Letting the truth of God set is free is also choosing to look inward at the brokenness inside us and let God replace it with righteousness.
References:
English Standard Version Study Bible (2008) Crossway Publishing, Wheaton ILL,
Dictionary (Copyright 2005–2017 Apple Inc.) All rights reserved.
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