I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day as a glorious new day is beginning to dawn! We are 6 days from Thanksgiving, we have a full day of college football tomorrow & the #5 team in the country has already gone down (apologies to my Friends in Louisville!)...a blessed life indeed!
Last week I wrote about the things we choose to believe - how we are defined, in who or what we put our faith & hope. This week I want to take the next step, to talk about the things we fill ourselves with - the things we pouring into our well (the heart) for these things will determine what comes out in our thoughts, words & actions. A few things on the front end to emphasis the importance of what we so often leave to chance or comfort, if we even think about it at all.
"Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny." - Mahatma Gandhi
You see Friends, it is sequential. If you believe like Gandhi & I do, everything begins with what we choose to believe. I think it is also worth noting that Gandhi said,
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
- Mahatma Gandhi
Sadly, his statement is very accurate. And I am pretty sure it is due to the things that get poured down into the well. While the initial belief might be in God, if the things that are poured down into the well are not Godly, it is impossible to think, speak & act in a Godly manner.
I have shared this quote before and I will continue to do so as it resonated with me so deeply when I first heard it:
"What's in the well will always come up in the bucket." - Pastor Ken Whitten
Maybe quotes and thoughts of others don't speak to you. Let me give you this example; do me a favor and go get a glass. Please pour your favorite soft drink in the glass. Now take a nice long drink of water from that glass. What?!?! Quit looking at your computer screen like that! If it doesn't matter what is poured in, take a drink of water out of the glass you just filled with a soft drink. You see, what is poured in is always what comes back out - literally & figuratively!
And let me please offer you some encouragement on the front end. Now that you have a glass filled with a soft drink that you really didn't want - you shouldn't be drinking soft drinks this early in the morning anyways! :) - please go get a glass of water. Please do this over a sink our out in the yard. Now pour the water into the glass filled with the soft drink. Yes it is going to overflow...keep pouring, it will take a while. Keep pouring and pouring until the water has replaced the soft drink (for maximum affect, use a Coke or a Pepsi). Eventually the clear, refreshing water will replace the soft drink. If you have been pouring bad stuff down your well, it is going to take a while for the clear, life giving stuff to fill your well. Don't be discouraged and don't give up! As surely as the water replaced the soft drink, life-giving thoughts, words & actions will spring from your well when you repeatedly fill it with life-giving stuff!
Perhaps words of wisdom and examples aren't your thing...let me give you a couple of scriptures:
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." - Proverbs 4: 23
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." - James 1: 27
If you aren't convinced now, I give up. Just know this, God never will! :)
So let me ask you Friends, what are you pouring into your well?
1. What are the things you look at and read? Is it positive? Encouraging? Is it based on truth, real truth? Does it make your spirit come alive or does it make you feel bad? Down? Dirty? Does it teach you to love, value & respect everyone - including yourself! - or does it teach you to judge, look down on others, put others down, etc.? What's in the well will always come up in the bucket!
The things we look at and read do affect the heart. We don't need to read everything that is out there and we must diligently guard our hearts as Proverbs teaches. I am not saying that we are blind to what is going on around us...I am saying that we need to thoughtfully weed the seeds that are dropped into the gardens of our heart. And by the way, while I don't need to read the details of someone else's failure, I can pray for them. We can choose to read things that help us grow to the fullness of who we were created to be instead of reading junk about someone else's life that somehow makes me feel better about mine. I can choose to look at and read things that are positive, encouraging & life-giving or I can choose to look at and read things that are negative, depressing & death-producing. The choice is mine, just as it is yours, however we are not free from the consequences of that choice. What's in the well will always come up in the bucket!
2. What are the things you are listening to? Same questions as above apply! Don't want to answer them all simply do this; listen to yourself. What are the words you are speaking? They will be a direct reflection of the things you are listening to.
Words are so very powerful! Have you listened to us?!?! We love to sit around and just pick someone apart! Why?!?! Do we really think it is good to sit around and listen to someone tell us how bad, horrible, pathetic, etc. someone else is? The reality is we are all bad, horrible & pathetic anyways! :) The only thing listening to this stuff does is affect the way we then act towards the person of the attack. We might not even know that person or ever had a negative interaction with them and yet, because of what someone else said - what we listened to - we treat them poorly. What's in the well will always come up in the bucket!
The Bible has a whole lot to say about words. And please remember, communication has two components - speaking & listening...look & listen for both components in each of these scriptures.
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." - Proverbs 18: 21
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4: 29
"But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person." - Matthew 15 :18
"But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth." - Colossians 3: 8
"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." - Luke 6: 45
Look Friends, all I am saying is your life is way to valuable & precious to fill it with negativity, death & destruction. God created you for so much more and Jesus was crucified so you don't have to live that kind of life. Please thoughtfully, intentionally choose this day - and every day that follows - what will fill your well.
Earlier I shared Proverbs 4: 23 (a Haslam family favorite!) with you. I want to close by sharing verses 24 - 27:
Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or left; keep your foot from evil.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
No comments:
Post a Comment