Q: Who is that person in the picture?A: She is the most challenging person I ever dealt with in my whole life.
I am trying to teach her new things.I am doing my best to change her for the better.I am always working on making her a better person.Yep…Myself.And it’s a challenge!But the good news is…I have power over myself.And no one else does.
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? – James 4:1
But you know, changing myself is a battle I face every single day.I fight so many urges like…My impatience, laziness, irritability with petty things, desire to sleep more...Feeling scared, the occasional feelings of depression…I used to attribute these feelings from outside sources like…Cranky people around me, life that seems to have no meaning, my past hurts, etc.But the truth is…These outside forces consist of only 10% of the experience.Because 90% comes from how I react towards them…Just like what the 90-10 principle is trying to tell us.
Bottom line?I am responsible for my own feelings and my own thoughts…For my own actions and how I deal with other people…And I am responsible for my own life and my future…Not the past and not what people did to me.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. – Ephesians 4:22
But I know taking responsibility for one’s own life can sometimes be a major struggle…Most especially if the wounds of the past continue to gape even at present…When the past is too traumatizing to forget…When it’s difficult to forgive ourselves and free ourselves from guilt and hatred…And at present, the wounds continue to bleed…That it seems impossible to fill them with love…
This is where God’s love comes in.Let us cling to Him in all our struggles…Even with the struggles within ourselves…
And this is how we win the battle. :-)
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28