My church's Wednesday Bible Study is currently in Matthew chapter 5. We are going over the beautitudes. What a wonderful time of year to be studying this. Everyone wants to speak of thankfulness, and indeed we should, but I pray it is from the heart...and not just to do it because others are....or to try to 'out-do' others.
Discord seems to be on the rise. People are in disagreement about almost everything. Just look at our recent election. So many different views and opinions.
This past Wednesday evening, our pastor spoke on the spirit of sweet gentleness. Verse 5 says, "Blessed are the meek (kind, gentle, humble) for they shall inherit the earth." He brought out that we need to be compassionate...not cold hearted; caring...not critical; considerate... not condemning; cheerful..not full of contention. WOW!! Those 'c' words hold quite the punch! So many christians seem to forget about meekness. They may be 'kind' when it suits them....but are you genuinely kind? When someone does not share your point of view....are you meek....or do you bow up and let your opinion be known? It takes work at times to be compassionate......the lazy way out is to be cold hearted. If we curb our critical thoughts.....do we really care about what we are criticizing? Mom always told me it's hard to talk bad about someone or something that we are bathing in prayer.
So often we take the easy road and condemn someone's actions. "Well, let me tell you, my kids won't ever do that!" "They made their bed hard....now they can just lie in it!" "Well, I'm just done with them! Who needs them anyway???"..............really?....really? Oh my.....we speak of how glorious God is to us, how merciful, how gracious............and yet with that same mouth...it doesn't bother us to cut someone to the core, to walk away..........and yet we can say..."I'm in God's will"....are we?... are we really? Well, you don't know what he did to me.....you don't know what she said.........no....we may not know the full story....every detail...........but is your 'beatitudes' in check? How's all that coldness and attitude workin' for you?....really...........
Cheerfulness cannot hang around contention....ever tried it? Try to be all 'happy'....all 'cheery'....'oh, yes, everything is great!'...but underneath that fake smile, there is contention, roots of bitterness choking out the true joy of your salvation. You cannot be humble and haughty at the same time. You can not speak Godly sayings, quote scriptures, and say how awesome life is, meanwhile, cold-heartedness, critical spirit, condemning thoughts, and contention rules our mind and heart. Your words may sound good...but your actions are screaming the total opposite to others around you.....and you know what.............you end up alone....well except for your stubborn pride, lol.
I've been at several of those places at different times in my life....believe me....not a good place to be. God help me to keep a spirit of submission (verse 3..'blessed are the poor (humble) in spirit'..), a spirit of sorrow (verse 4..'blessed are they that mourn...'..), and a spirit of sweet gentleness (verse 5..'blessed are the meek (kind, gentle, humble)'..). I am so thankful that I truly can be thankful because so much bitterness and criticism and coldness is not in my heart. I am so thankful of the valleys in my life...they have made the mountain tops so much sweeter.
I never want to stop learning, never want to stop growing in Him. I am truly thankful for my church, my church family and my pastor who help me do both. I can't wait to get back next Wednesday and learn more about the beautitudes. I have read and studied them all my life...but I have never gotten to the point that I think I can't learn even more. I thank God for my family and my friends....I would not be where I am today without them. Thank you, Lord for the true joy that is overflowing in me!
