| APRIL 5, 2012 --
I was reading a daily devotion the other day from Daily Bread, the February 10, 2012 article by Cindy Hess Kasper, and she was discussing “flawed” characters. I have been thinking about this ever since.
If we look in the Scriptures we find that most of the people that we consider “saints” or great workers for God started out as flawed.
Moses didn’t want to go back to Egypt because he was afraid. David looked with lust upon another man’s wife. Gideon was not sure it was God that was calling him and twice asked for miracles to prove it was God. Peter, the impetuous one, denied Jesus while he was warming himself around the campfire—not once, but three times. Yet when these men followed the direction of God they were truly people of God and are remembered for this part of their lives.
When we look around us, and within us, we discover that we are all flawed. Not one of us always does what we know is right. We disappoint God and our friends and family many times and in many ways. But you know what, our friends and family accept us anyway and expect us to do better. God does the same think. You see, He knows the potential we have and He knows we be better than we ever thought. He is here to help us overcome ourselves. He is here to help us get rid of our ego and replace it with God’s grace.
If God sees so much good in the worst of us, should we not also be looking for the good in everyone? I know it is easier to see and remember the bad, but anyone can do that. I think it is time that we started looking for the good in people, and tell them about it.
“You know, I’ve notice this about you and I admire that.” Who wouldn’t like to hear that. Perhaps it would be the encouragement they need to keep on. We all have bad days in which we say and do things we know we shouldn’t. We have to start over, and over, and over each time we fail and try to do better.
We need God’s help for this, just as those great people in the Bible. Perhaps there is a way to help us remember to ask God for his help. Have you ever heard of “breath prayers”? These are short phrases that we say to ourselves as we breathe. For example, when we discover we do or say something we should not, when we inhale say “Dear God forgive me” and when we exhale “Father help me do better.”
There are all types of prayers like this. Find some that work for you and try it. It will help you focus on God, and that can never be a bad thing. |
