My own worst enemy

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

I don't know about you, but every day I fight a war with myself inside my mind. I love this verse in Philippians, and I try to remember it every time my thought life takes a dive (which is often, believe me); but it is quite hard to put into practice! When God speaks something to me and gives me a peace about a situation, it doesn't take long for me to forget that He did that for me and pick those thoughts back up again.

My mind doesn't just wander... it hitchhikes. And before I know it, it's on the back of a pickup truck headed for Tijuana! And I think to myself, "how did I get here? These cacti sure don't look familiar..." The point is, it's easy for our thoughts to get away from us. We have to endeavor to guard our thoughts at all times. And it's not easy! But when we let those negative thoughts creep in, and we begin to dwell on them, it isn't long before we've ventured into terrain we're unfamiliar with... somewhere we never intended to be, somewhere we weren't meant to go.

This especially true when it comes to judging our brothers and sisters in Christ. In Philippians 2, Paul writes,"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." I was talking with my mom the other day about the fact that our judicial system has a stance when it comes to convicting someone of a crime: "innocent until proven guilty." An attorney has to bring enough evidence against a defendant to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person did what he or she is being accused of. However when it comes to the body of believers and our opinions of each other, our stance seems to be "guilty until proven innocent." Brothers and Sisters, this should not be! The Bible says to esteem others as better than ourselves, not as worse! Yet, we often will be quick to believe the worst about someone because it makes us feel better about ourselves. That goes against what God wants for us- unity.

We are so much stronger when we are together; the enemy knows this. That's why he likes to plant the seeds of doubt and dissension and watch us flounder as we try to see just how many fingers we can point at everyone but ourselves. All because we let one negative thought creep in. Have I completely learned my lesson? No. And I probably never will... after all, I'm not perfect. But God has been teaching me four things over and over these past few weeks: 1. It doesn't matter in the light of eternity, 2. He's got it all under control anyway, 3. It's not my job to fix everyone's problems, and 4. Let it go!

Evidence of the Experience.

God is still speaking to me about what topic to write on this week. I took a break from the encouragement business last week, and for that I must apologize. I wasn't feeling very encouraged myself, and it was hard for me to dole it out to others. How very, very selfish of me! God can use me even when I'm being a cranky little brat... How often I forget that. So, until I post this week's blog, may I direct you to one of my personal heroes (and favorite singers), Bethany Dillon. This is a blog she posted on her myspace... and boy is it GOOD! Keep in mind, she is even younger than I am! I amazed at how God uses this girl in my life, and I've never even met her.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=20956866&blogID=323691447&Mytoken=DF099C57-F8E1-4824-BF0E1E8CC847E8DB31731233