🌿BREATHE TRUTH🌿
You must not have any other god but Me. —Exodus 20:3
🌿LIVE THE REAL TRUTH🌿
People. Do you have a challenging colleague, co-worker, family member, or friend in your life? Their presence produces delays, distractions, and disagreements. When confrontation and conflict counter the benefits of affiliation and association, disruptions can erupt. Given the choice to hang out with people or not, some of us will consider not to.
Pets. Do you have an affable and adorable pet? Amicable animals with an abundance of affection. We like them because they are easy to love and enjoyable to live with. Given the chance to keep company with pets or people, some of us will choose pets.
Passion. Have you longed to be loved, forgiven, and cared for? God is all-loving, all-forgiving, and all-caring. However, people are often tough to love, don’t forgive well, and can be unkind. Given the option to spend time with people, pets, or God, some of us will prefer pets and God.
Bottom line: People are challenging to love and live with. But the first four commands encourages us to recognize God first, remove idols, respect God, and receive worship in our lives…..so that we can better respond to the final six commands.
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The first four commands show us:
how to love God well
how to devote to God well
how to act towards God well.
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The remaining six commands show us:
how to live with people well
how to deal with people well
how to react to people well.
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Wrestle, worry, and wrangle less.
Wrestling, worrying, and wrangling with God in the first four commands will weigh down your efforts to effectively encounter people in the latter commands.
If we wrestle with loving God, we will wrestle with living with other people well.
If we worry with devoting ourselves to God, we will worry in dealing with other people well.
If we wrangle with acting responsibly towards God, we will wrangle irresponsibly in reacting to other people.
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Pace, place, and perspective God bigger than people.
Pace. Balance the first four commands in your life to engage faithfully with God in a steady pace. This will help you to handle people in the last six commands who run a fast pace and bring them to a healthy pace. God pace > people pace
Placement. Bigger God in the first four commands make obstacles with people in the last six commands beatable. Position God a big giant and people, well, little giants. God placement> people placement
Perspective. Prioritize God wider, taller, and higher in spiritual significance than the temptations in the final six commands. Perspective puts God where He should be in our life so that no one and nothing usurps His place. God perspective > people perspective
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Ultimately, we shine the light of Jesus to the world. But if the world only sees a tiny flicker of our relationship with God, this makes Him small. Shine bright light on the first four commands, and shout Him big. Big enough to pass the test of the last six commandments.
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Pace me God, so I walk and not fall,
Place me so I can see You bigger and my problems small.
Push out my perspective so yours is all
That matter, as You call
My heart to love others with flaws
Keep my focus on You so I keep You in awe.
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©️2020 Jordan Su