I usually have a good idea of what I want to talk about in my daily posts when I sit down to write at night. However, sometimes I sit and sit and sit some more without coming up with a clear plan. That’s when I know there’s no beating around the bush…I need to take it to God in prayer and ask Him what HE wants me to write about. Such was the case last night.

Oh, sure…I could tell you about the hour and a half we sat on the customer service phone call with the power company. Or, our quick trip to town to pick up our new recliners…which are beautiful and SO comfortable, by the way. Or, how hard it was to put the backs back on once we got them in the house. (Mr. FixIt said the lock goes down…I said up. I won’t tell you who won! Or, I could tell you how we decadently took the rest of the day off and sat in said comfy chairs watching our recording of The Voice. Nope, that isn’t what He wanted me to write about. He wanted me to talk about giving.

In my prayers, I was nudged to read a devotional that I finished a couple of months ago because it’s as timely…if not more so…now as it was before. It’s called “Unoffendable” by Ryan Leak. This is a ten-day devotional that helps you to see how culpable we all are in this age of offense. The bottom line of the whole thing is simple…“Life Is All About What You Give”. This brings up a complicated point.

“We are what we eat.”

Now, that doesn’t mean we are a cow or a head of cauliflower. It means we put out what we take in. If we take in ugliness and hatred, we are much more likely to put that back out into the world. When we do that, we offend others who disagree with us, and vice versa. When we feed ourselves with “good food” we are much more likely to express goodness to others. And isn’t that what we want more of in the world?

We have no control over others…we only have control of our reactions to them. I am getting much better at saying, “I don’t find that kind of talk to be helpful.” I’m better at removing myself from situations. And, I am really working on not engaging when I feel “offended”. What I “give” is much more important. 

I try to be a cheerleader in these times of unrest. I’m only human…I make mistakes…but I surely try. Let’s try to give out as much goodness as we can in the coming days and weeks. Because, soon….there are going to be a lot of unhappy people, one way or another. Let’s try to be more like Jesus and love others as we love ourselves…as He loves us.

❤️

“You cannot fool God, so don’t make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant.”

Galatians 6:7 CEV