Todays post takes a different turn. It's really sparked by a conversation that I was having with my mother.
Yesterday, my mother began to explain some things that she thought I needed to do to get ready for a certain occasion coming up. Everything that she had expressed was already on my to-do-list. As she was talking this particular thought crossed my mind...
I know that mothers tell their children things out of their best interests, and really our age has nothing to do with it, because my grandmother was 92 and she always shared her thoughts with my mom so that's not exactly what I'm referring too. My mother is a great mother, and she knows a lot about me but are there some things that my mom don't know about me? YES!
We can live with people or around people for the majority of our lives and they really don't know exactly who we are.
What I mean by that is....they know your name, your age, they know your style, they know what restaurants you may like, they may even know your daily routine...but with all of that, they never really know the REAL YOU!
Not the outside appearance you portray or the you driven by your day-to-day activities but the INSIDE you...your HEART... your PASSIONS...your VIRTUES and most importantly THE CHRIST THAT LIVES IN YOU!
Sometimes the people that are close to us really don't know who we are!
My mom told me just two days ago, "Angela, I ran into 'so and so' and she said that she reads your post everyday on Facebook because they are so encouraging and she never misses a day."
I smiled....but I thought...does my mom know that there is an "encourager" on the inside of me?
People that we are really close to, those can be our parents, siblings, family members, friends, co-workers and childhood friends, don't always know you....meaning...they know you in the context of your relationship with them....but they may not necessarily know what Christ has placed on the inside of you.
People see you in the same light of your past, mistakes, bad decisions, income, job, failures and even your accomplishments because those things are what they can measure you by on the outside. But they don't always know the YOU on the inside. Some can sense when you have changed from a bad attitude to a good one, or from mistakes to maturity...but that doesn't represent who you are internally. YOU ARE MORE than that!
You see, I have made some mistakes and bad decisions in my life. Many of whom my mother had to help me straighten out and when she sees me, sometimes, she still looks at me as the daughter she helped in that situation. She may at times recognize my maturity, but often times that is who she sees me as.
We will never be able to make people see us in the way we desire them to. We will never make people look at us with Christ lenses or Christ contacts, but we can have confidence in ourselves and know WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST!
Another thing is, if you never are able to change someones opinion of you or how they see you that is okay! I would urge you just to keep being a better and greater you. One thing I have realized that the more you allow the light of Christ to shine in your life sooner or later, others won't be able to not see it! They may look over it or even ignore it, but the proof is in the pudding!
One last thing, Have you taken the time to allow the NEW in you to be planted in the lives of those close to you? If encouragement is something that I have inside of me, why don't I encourage my mother? Have I shared my heart of encouragement with her? Such good questions...and the answer is: sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. So one thing I need to "put into practice" is using the "encourager" in me to encourage my mother! I would love when my mother hears others say, "Angela encourages me" that she can say in return "Yes, Angela encourages me too!"
So let me encourage you and myself today....
WE ARE NEW...CHRIST LIVES IN US...AND WE ARE GOING TO LET OUR LIGHT SHINE!
Be the best you, you can be! There is someone who notices. He is the one that made you and has great plans for you!
Start using what's on the inside of you, that change, virtue, passion, and new heart to touch the lives of those that are close to you, so they too can testify as to who Christ is and what Christ has inside of you! Remember...when you let your light shine other Glorify the Father!
Yesterday, my mother began to explain some things that she thought I needed to do to get ready for a certain occasion coming up. Everything that she had expressed was already on my to-do-list. As she was talking this particular thought crossed my mind...
Does my mother really know who I am?
I know that mothers tell their children things out of their best interests, and really our age has nothing to do with it, because my grandmother was 92 and she always shared her thoughts with my mom so that's not exactly what I'm referring too. My mother is a great mother, and she knows a lot about me but are there some things that my mom don't know about me? YES!
We can live with people or around people for the majority of our lives and they really don't know exactly who we are.
What I mean by that is....they know your name, your age, they know your style, they know what restaurants you may like, they may even know your daily routine...but with all of that, they never really know the REAL YOU!
Not the outside appearance you portray or the you driven by your day-to-day activities but the INSIDE you...your HEART... your PASSIONS...your VIRTUES and most importantly THE CHRIST THAT LIVES IN YOU!
Sometimes the people that are close to us really don't know who we are!
My mom told me just two days ago, "Angela, I ran into 'so and so' and she said that she reads your post everyday on Facebook because they are so encouraging and she never misses a day."
I smiled....but I thought...does my mom know that there is an "encourager" on the inside of me?
People that we are really close to, those can be our parents, siblings, family members, friends, co-workers and childhood friends, don't always know you....meaning...they know you in the context of your relationship with them....but they may not necessarily know what Christ has placed on the inside of you.
People see you in the same light of your past, mistakes, bad decisions, income, job, failures and even your accomplishments because those things are what they can measure you by on the outside. But they don't always know the YOU on the inside. Some can sense when you have changed from a bad attitude to a good one, or from mistakes to maturity...but that doesn't represent who you are internally. YOU ARE MORE than that!
You see, I have made some mistakes and bad decisions in my life. Many of whom my mother had to help me straighten out and when she sees me, sometimes, she still looks at me as the daughter she helped in that situation. She may at times recognize my maturity, but often times that is who she sees me as.
We will never be able to make people see us in the way we desire them to. We will never make people look at us with Christ lenses or Christ contacts, but we can have confidence in ourselves and know WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST!
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Another thing is, if you never are able to change someones opinion of you or how they see you that is okay! I would urge you just to keep being a better and greater you. One thing I have realized that the more you allow the light of Christ to shine in your life sooner or later, others won't be able to not see it! They may look over it or even ignore it, but the proof is in the pudding!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 (NKJV)
One last thing, Have you taken the time to allow the NEW in you to be planted in the lives of those close to you? If encouragement is something that I have inside of me, why don't I encourage my mother? Have I shared my heart of encouragement with her? Such good questions...and the answer is: sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. So one thing I need to "put into practice" is using the "encourager" in me to encourage my mother! I would love when my mother hears others say, "Angela encourages me" that she can say in return "Yes, Angela encourages me too!"
So let me encourage you and myself today....
WE ARE NEW...CHRIST LIVES IN US...AND WE ARE GOING TO LET OUR LIGHT SHINE!
Be the best you, you can be! There is someone who notices. He is the one that made you and has great plans for you!
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works,And that my soul knows very well." (Psalms 139:14)
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
Start using what's on the inside of you, that change, virtue, passion, and new heart to touch the lives of those that are close to you, so they too can testify as to who Christ is and what Christ has inside of you! Remember...when you let your light shine other Glorify the Father!
Angie, I can SOO relate to this post! I can be pretty quiet so sometimes people are shocked to find that I blog - never mind that I seek to encourage others. And also, I definitely have made some mistakes in the past too and its hard for people to get past that. Thank God our God is a God of grace! :)
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