Growing...

Today, I'd like to share a bit of what God's been doing in my life.

Lately God has been helping me grow. When I get angry with someone or frustrated with their actions or have my feelings hurt from careless words, I find myself taking a moment and talking to God. What begins as my pleas for justice or complaints of criticism or cries of pain ends with me contemplating things that I could have done better, ways I could have reacted in love, ways that I carelessly spoke out of turn....

Each time I am humbled and silenced by how much I still have left to learn.

It's so easy to get caught up in the moment. Pride can flare up in a flash. Emotions can cloud good judment. A perceived slight builds into a quest for retribution. All to quickly I can dip into behavior that I know is not reflective of who I am in Christ.

God is showing me that I am better. I don't have to give into pride, I don't have to react in turn, and I don't have to inflict pain just because I am hurting.

I am better.

I am better because God loved me enough to send His Son. I am better because His Son chose to die for my sins. I'm better because when I chose to accept His Son as my Savior, I received forgiveness, love, and redemption. On top of that, I am counted as a joint heir with Christ and get to live eternally with Him in Paradise!

I am better.

As this better person, I can react in a better way to the world around me. I don't have to sink to the level of sin. I don't have to make hasty decisions that leave lasting scars. I'm not always the victim, but now I see how I can be victorious in every situation.

It's not always easy. I'm not all the way there yet. Sometimes it literally hurts to swallow back that smart retort or respond in love to anger. But knowing God is happy with how I'm living and understanding how love can change any circumstance is helping me grow.

Knowing that I can do it, makes me want to do it all the more. God's growing me... and I love it!

Verse of the Day: The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Psalm 92:12