That leads me to the subject that I've been reading up on called the Emotionally Healthy Church. A church is only as emotionally healthy as it's members and I took the test to see if I were emotionally healthy. Although I passed on most of the items, there are several that I need to work on.
Here is a statement that stuck with me...
Jesus never compromised his Holiness... He felt every human emotion and yet never sinned...
How can we be assertive... yet not aggressive
...deliberate yet not impulsive
prompt...but not rushing in to speak your mind
Jesus knew what he believed in and what he stood for, yet people were drawn to him in the midst of their sinfulness... Like the woman at the well who "had many husbands..." Like Nicodemus, the tax collector... Like the woman caught in adultery and the crowd wanted to stone her...
Jesus knew what was under the shell of every person he encountered and he had compassion on them. Yet he always spoke about doing what was right. For them to "go and sin no more." Always with compassion.... I lack compassion... It was one of the questions on the test that I scored WAY low on...
It was stated like this... I am regularly able to enter into other people's world and feelings, connecting deeply with them and taking time to imagine what it feels like to live in their shoes...
I can honestly answer this question as No... Now in my honesty, I need to search out why I don't have more compassion for others. Last year for my evaluation at work, my boss gave me glowing affirmatives. The only thing he said that I could improve on was to be a little more sensitive to how other people might struggle and to put myself in their shoes... (UMMM... I think I'm starting to see a pattern here.)
One of the reasons that I can admit to not being so compassionate is that I believe that we make our own choices. We do exactly what it is we want to do. Even if doing it causes us harm or pain... The problem is that some people really want to stop doing it, but can't... Here is where I have a little disconnect... Just STOP... Or DON'T... It's not that you can't, it's that you don't want to... Just like when I went around to talk to my co-worker... I didn't want to stop...It wasn't that I couldn't...
That is why I am not as compassionate as I should be... I don't want to put myself in their shoes and understand what it is they are struggling with. If we are honest with ourselves, we can admit that we have a problem that we need to stop doing... That's the key to emotional health... Being honest with yourself...Most emotionally unhealthy people just don't want to admit they have a problem. In fact, the emotionally unhealthy person will blame someone else for the fact they do what they do... What is it that holds someone in bondage to a destructive pattern of behavior?
I calmed down considerably after I rushed in and spoke my mind last week and even after the moment passed, my co-worker made a comment about having had a really bad day, that one of her kids had his wisdom teeth pulled and she was really stressed with a corporate report that was due. It didn't excuse her hanging up on me or yelling at me over the phone, (prior to her hanging up on me) or the fact that she wouldn't open her door when I went around to talk to her face to face... None of that is excused, however, it is understandable and I am a stronger person emotionally than I believe her to be, so I should not have crushed her with my words. I should have stopped and waited before confronting her.
But I didn't.... Now I have to make amends for it.
Yes, I have to make amends, because that is what I'm taught to do by the example of Jesus Christ...
The Bible does give an example of Jesus getting angry, like when he overturned the tables and ran the people out of the temple, or when he got angry that his disciples couldn't stay awake long enough for him to pray... But he never sinned....
That's what I need to work on... The not sinning part.... I hope that I have another opportunity to do it right...
Just not before I study a little more about it... I don't think I would pass the test if I took it again today.
Always learning, striving to be better, staying honest with myself... Admitting where I fall short, and asking for the chance to do it right... That's what keeps me emotionally healthy...
I'll end with this verse that I've never noticed before. It's John 2:23-25...
23 Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. 24 But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature. 25 No one needed to tell him what mankind is really like.
Wow, I want Jesus to be able to trust me... Father, forgive me...
Lea Anne
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