Friday, July 8, 2011

Intentions of the Heart

As much as possible, I try to see the goodness in people. I remember my mom saying, "Before you criticize a person, find at least one thing that you can compliment about them." I try my best to understand a person's feelings, experiences, their personality and sometimes I picture my self to be in their shoes before I react negatively about whatever "bad thing", in my own opinion, that they said or did.

On the other hand, I was reminded by somebody not to overanalyze things because sometimes, people say and do things because of the most obvious crystal clear reasons that I sometimes rule out because it's just too obvious that it can't and shouldn't be the reason. Sometimes people just say and do things because they want to at that very moment. Maybe it's wrong to do that or maybe not.

Maybe they were wrong and I was right. I don't know, what I know is that in 1 Corinthians 4:5 we are reminded not to condemn or accuse others. It says, “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts”

I believe the Lord said that in the end it's still our motives for doing things that matters, maybe you did the right thing but you had a bad intention or you did the "bad thing" with good reasons. He also said that we should pray and discern for things before we do something about it. Pray that He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and that He may expose the intentions of other people. 

It takes a lot of courage to let go and a lot of self-control so we can be mindful of our words and actions. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life”. Monitor your self on how you respond to difficult situations, hurtful words and actions so you can determine what takes root there.

Sometimes, the one pointing the accusing finger turns out to be the guilty one. Sometimes, we think we are the righteous one and we feel the need to correct others; but sometimes in the end it will turn out that we also need a lecture about how we do the correcting.


and so I pray that may the Lord bless me...
with humility to understand and forgive others,
to be quiet so I can listen;
with wisdom to know what to say when I have to speak
or when to say nothing and just let go;
with courage to walk out from things that will 
cause bitterness in my life
and to remove the things that will act like 
weeds and thorns in my heart

4 comments:

Sportet said...

Hi Paige,

This is a great post on learning self-control in our words and actions. I think we all need to learn a little more self-control.

thanks for sharing. I've become a follower.

My blog is Manifest Blog if you're interested.

kemarias said...

We need to know when to have the right intention towards others. Forgiving is what God tells us to do though so many times we are not forgiving but quick to judge. Very nice post.

Mikayla Jeane said...

Nice blogging! For a teenager that often finds herself stuck at crossroads because of lack of self control, looking to God is not usually an option I remember.
It's important to recognize one's mistakes, and occasionally stuck asking for help because of stubborness. I'm now a follower of your blog, thank you so much for reminding me of His love.

Mikayla Jeane, TheWritingTeenager

Anonymous said...

you funny