This morning my mom, the most brilliant person I know, told me that I shouldn't let other people's action alter my own and that my behavior is not contingent upon the behavior of other people. This is such a freeing statement!By freeing, I mean this- we decide in our minds that we are going to act a certain way and no matter what people may do it will not change our determined behavior. We can be steady as a rock, motionless, steadfast. Nothing can sway us, that is, if we can anchor ourselves to the Rock Himself, Jesus Christ.
As humans, we are not capable of doing this on our own. We were made to be dependent upon God. God purposely puts difficult situations and people in our lives so that we can learn to depend on Him and make the choice everyday to follow Him.We cannot make other people our source of strength, because people will let us down. But the beautiful thing about relying on God to be your strength is that when people let you down, make you angry, hurt your feelings, and try to tear you apart, the list could go on forever.....it will not sway you! Your identity is in Christ!
The thing that keeps me from experiencing this freedom is that I don't make things black and white in my mind. I, speaking from ongoing experience, will rely on my feelings to determine my behavior. I will make things gray in my mind,I will try to "fix" people, try to make things better in my own strength, and then the mess ensues...
So the lesson I have learned is this, make things black and white, don't leave room for what "I feel" like doing, and modeling my behavior after Christ's will bring me ultimate freedom! The choice is mine....let other people's behavior rule my life? Or experience the unconditional love, joy, patience, and kindness that comes when I become an imitator of Christ?
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