I can remember growing up, that my folks would constantly remind me about being consistent with words and actions. Sometimes it was a whole lot easier for me to say one thing to them and then do another. The thing I would say is usually what I thought they would want to hear. It was quicker to mouth the words and then go about doing what I wanted to do any way. Fortunately, the thing I learned as I got older was that people did not respect a person who was, basically, a hypocrite. We were being judged by how our words and actions were aligned.
I would never want a school where we said we were about certain things, and then did completely the opposite. It is why we place an emphasis on Christian character development. The best way that I see words and actions aligning is when we are conscience about what we are filling ourselves with from outside influences. What we read, what we see, what we listen to; those things we expose ourselves to will come out when we find ourselves in a touch situation. That auto-response really can tell others about our true character.
There’s the story of a small boy who came home after school to fresh baked cookies. He loved a big glass of milk with those cookies, so he went to the refrigerator and poured himself a huge glass of milk to the very top. As he was carefully, slowly, walking back to the table to enjoy his snack, his older sibling came flying around the corner and crashed into him. The milk went flying everywhere and saturated the boy, covering the table and the floor.
What spills out of you when you get bumped? When things in life don’t go exactly the way you planned, how do you respond?
If we fill ourselves with good things, it is more likely those are the things that will spill out. Garbage in – Garbage out. Good stuff in – then good stuff out.
Paul said it this way in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”[1]
Basically he says, intentionally aspire to put these positive things in your mind and when you are bumped in life, that is what will spill out on others.
No comments:
Post a Comment