This was a sentence I got from Mark 5:36, a verse that resonated with me yesterday, early in the morning, when I read The Bible.
The Bible said 'As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe'.
We're surrounded by people whose speech are often not strengthening, but destroying our faith. Yeah, the sad thing is, if 'they' refers to somebody we care about, or somebody should be our role model. Therefore it will be much harder to be growing up in faith. (I can say it because I've already experienced it by myself :).
Words have always have 2 sides: to build or to destroy. And so often, we find ourselves getting weak as we heard someone said something bad to us. But thanks to The Lord that Jesus, as soon as He heard the word that was spoken, he said 'be not afraid, only believe'. This is the only words we'd like to hear in our times of adversity!
By reading this, I tried to re-evaluate my life. Have I already controlled my tongue? Oh, I use to forget that my words can bring a great impact to ones' life. Are my words encouraging and not weakening? (Not so sure..).
Oh, my.. I sensed that God was touching a sensitive place in my life. I used to be offense hearing any hurting words spoken to me, but have no idea about how my own words have been. Sometime, I give useful advice (in my point of view!) but I forget that the way I say is much more important than what I say. (I can be mean and cynical, you know...).
I also realized as Rick Warren said 'Hurt people hurt people'. In our hard times, whenever we get hurt, we'll get other people hurt by our words. And that's something very often happens to me! :) Yeah.. whenever a 'hard time' comes into our lives, we have a choice to whether we will still do God's will in it, or hold on ours..
Another point I got here is whenever I need to fuel my faith, I know where I have to run to. Not to seek ones' advice, no matter how wise theirs are, but come to Jesus, from whom all blessings (courage, strengths, faiths, hopes, all including!) flow.
Blessings!
Showing posts with label Bible point of view. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible point of view. Show all posts
Monday, July 06, 2009
Sunday, February 24, 2008
How Do You Measure Greatness?
This one is from anchoryourlife.com
When I read it, suddenly I realized that the way we measure greatness is absolutely different with the way God does.
How about you?
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. (NIV) Mark 9:33-34
"Two centuries ago, when a great man appeared, people looked for God's purpose in him. Today we look for his press agent." -Daniel Boorstin
How do you measure greatness? Is it measured by the reputation one leaves when he dies? By the amount of money one has? By the Nielsen ratings? By popularity polls? By how many homes a family has? In measuring your own greatness do you compare yourself to others? Do you try to impress your peers? Or are you attempting to live up to someone else's expectations of you?
Jesus had a radically different approach to greatness. He taught that the great people are those who serve others instead of being served . . . who place others' interests ahead of their own (Mark 9:35). . . who are living out what they say they believe (Matthew 5:10). . . who love others, even their enemies, without expectations of how they will be treated in return (Luke 6:35). . . who have a child like faith in Him. . . who are humble (Matthew 18:3-4). The great ones from God's perspective, are those who follow Jesus, not society, no matter the costs!
Who's definition of greatness are you trying to measure up to? Society's? Or God's? What changes do you need to make today so that you will be "great" in God's eyes?
Written by Marji "Mike" Kruger
When I read it, suddenly I realized that the way we measure greatness is absolutely different with the way God does.
How about you?
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. (NIV) Mark 9:33-34
"Two centuries ago, when a great man appeared, people looked for God's purpose in him. Today we look for his press agent." -Daniel Boorstin
How do you measure greatness? Is it measured by the reputation one leaves when he dies? By the amount of money one has? By the Nielsen ratings? By popularity polls? By how many homes a family has? In measuring your own greatness do you compare yourself to others? Do you try to impress your peers? Or are you attempting to live up to someone else's expectations of you?
Jesus had a radically different approach to greatness. He taught that the great people are those who serve others instead of being served . . . who place others' interests ahead of their own (Mark 9:35). . . who are living out what they say they believe (Matthew 5:10). . . who love others, even their enemies, without expectations of how they will be treated in return (Luke 6:35). . . who have a child like faith in Him. . . who are humble (Matthew 18:3-4). The great ones from God's perspective, are those who follow Jesus, not society, no matter the costs!
Who's definition of greatness are you trying to measure up to? Society's? Or God's? What changes do you need to make today so that you will be "great" in God's eyes?
Written by Marji "Mike" Kruger
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