Tag: lens

Selfish Switch

Published on by amylinnea2 Comments

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. James 3:16

Isn’t the switch too easy?

Usually a moment of pure insanity.

One moment we are living for God…

And the next minute we are focused again on ourselves.

One minute we are speaking life to others…

And before we realize it, we’ve refocused again completely on self.

James reminds us selfishness breeds disorder and every evil thing.

Yuck. Can you picture the ugliness we spread when focused on ourselves?

Ignoring others breeds rejection in their minds.

Always placing your needs first spreads the superiority message.

And that’s just scratching the surface.

What do you generally focus on as you go about your day?

With what lens do you see life?

Your own lens or God’s?

May we stop switching back to our own.

May we look through God’s lens to see what He sees.

And may we choose to focus on what He has for us today.

Come along and make the switch with me.

Photos by Bravingbird on Unsplash

 

It’s a Wonderful Life

Published on by amylinnea4 Comments

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:15

Is it?

Is your life wonderful?

George Bailey’s life was.

But He didn’t see it.

All he saw was what he didn’t have.

He chose to view life through that lens.

The lens of what he didn’t have instead of what he possessed.

He had little material wealth.

His job was stressful as a loan officer in a small town, riding through the depression and WWII.

Yet through his control and influence, he seemed to hold things together.

Until his Uncle Billy, who lost the $8,000 on Christmas Eve, sent George over the edge.

Because he viewed his life considering his many problems, he was filled with despair when control slipped through his fingers.

God proceeded to teach him a lesson by way of his guardian angel Clarance.

George began walking through his town as if he had never been born.

That messed with him as he no longer saw love by giving or receiving it.

No wife, children, job, or legacy.

Even his friends no longer knew him.

When George saw all of this, he realized what was truly important, beyond the money crisis gripping his soul.

He had a precious family who loved him.

He had multiple friends.

He lived in a wonderful town.

And he mattered.

What lens do you look through to see your life?

Do you look past your blessings, gazing only upon your problems?

Or do you look past your problems, focusing instead on your blessings?

Guessing we won’t wake up tomorrow, looking at our life as if we never were.

Also guessing we won’t have a dream tonight that, like Scrooge, takes us into our past, present, and future dependent upon our present choices.

But we can decide to repurpose our new year, looking to God for our strength, wisdom, and peace.

We can walk in George’s shoes, realizing how material possessions simply do not matter when love is absent.

We can remind ourselves how every moment in our lives is placed by God.

And that we matter to not only God, but dozens, if not hundreds of other people.

This new year, walk with your head held high.

Connect with others and in the process, you’ll connect others to Him.

There is nothing else to do that really matters.

Photos by David Beale, Honey Fangs, & Ryan Wallace on Unsplash