AND IN FIRST PLACE....

There is something that completely boggles my mind; the great measure of fear and insecurity we tolerate within the Body of Christ.  The other day, Paula White wrote as her facebook status; 

“While everyone is telling you why you can't do it- Do it anyway and let them keep fighting & figure it out! GO FOR ALL THAT GOD HAS SAID!”

Powerful!  See, I get this statement!  Why?  Because within my own Christian life; I have constantly been in conflict with this spirit operating through people that undermine and undervalue the Christ within me to accomplish all that God has asked me to do.  Now whether I choose to bow to it or not, is where my accountability lies.  However; as I pondered this statement more and more a picture rose up within my spirit and it brought so much clarity; I just had to share it.

Please don't get me wrong, it's not like I haven't had to deal with my own insecurities or issues, but there is  something that gets overlooked by us when we allow those insecurities to dominate our thinking and actions.  WE ARE ONE BODY.  Yes we live individual lives with our individual gifting, personalities, preferences, however, WE ARE ONE BODY and when I win, you win; when you win, I win! 

Look at what 1 Corinthians 12 has to say on the matter.

 “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all…

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many”.

Time for the illustration!  I don’t know if you are ready for this!  This illustration may set the Body of Christ free from jealousy and competition, so readers beware!  I have NEVER seen an Olympic Gold Medalist try and keep his feet, hands, chest or nose from crossing the finish line before he did!  I have never seen either body part talk badly about the other to bring discouragement, I have never seen them injure one another as to cripple its effectiveness, and I have never ever seen the individual body part that crossed the line first step up to the podium to receive the medal ALONE. That is absolute absurdity!

Whatever the Spirit does through each of our individual lives is FOR THE PROFIT OF ALL and when it comes time to receive the Medal of Honor, we all get to enter into the celebration.  Small living and small thinking is to believe that to see someone else win, means we have to lose.  This is only true if we are playing against each other on separate teams.  Decide today whose team you are playing on and give permission for every member of  the team to utilize all God has equipped them with to win the ultimate race!  Let’s stop speaking to the “Can’t” and breathe life into the “Can” because together we CAN DO all things!  (Philippians 4:13)

Questionable Motives!

If there is one thing that I feel God continuously deals with me about, it’s my motives.  My motives for speaking, motives for staying silent, motives for singing, motives for serving, motives for wanting to succeed, motives...motives…motives!  Believe it or not, He even deals with my motives for doing the tiniest thing like tweeting!  Tweeting?  Yes, tweeting!  “Why am I about to say what I am about to say? Why am I posting what I am about to post?”  WHY? WHY? WHY?  OK…ENOUGH!!!  I get it!  Motives are important to God!

Proverbs 21:2 says; “We justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives.”  Now why would He do that?  Simply put, “Mixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight down the road.” Proverbs 21:8.  The purer the motives, the purer the journey, the faster we effectively complete our life’s assignment with fewer distractions and less emotional casualties. 

OK, transition into awkward embarrassing story to illustrate what I mean.  Bear in mind, I was a broken-hearted teenager.  I was mad, I felt used, hurt, and cheated.  I am sure you get the picture.  Oh come on, like no one else has ever had the “I’ll show you!” rise up from within them!  Long story short, relationship has an ugly ending and now I feel compelled to write the perfect “exit letter”.

“Dear Un-Named Ex-Boyfriend”

“Blah blah blah…” (And more unimportant irrelevant junk)

 “By the way…One day when I am receiving my Grammy Award you will be sorry that you ever let me go!” 

What!!!  I went from “See ya later” to binding myself to the near impossible goal of receiving a Grammy Award just as payback to a guy I knew for less than a year?  Houston we have got a problem!  In case you do not know this about me, nearing 20 years later and yep…still no Grammy.  Why?  Because I believe motivation built on the wrong foundation does not have the lasting power to endure till the end.    

Wait Melissa, it sounds like you are talking about two different things, motives and motivation.  Motivation is rooted in the motive.  It’s the reason people are motivated to do a thing. Subconsciously or consciously, motives have an intention to produce a certain outcome.  If our motive is love, we are motivated to perform acts of love with the outcome of having a great relationship.  If our motive is insecurity, we will be motivated to respond to things based on our insecurities to subconsciously protect ourselves from rejection, etc. 

The beautiful thing about God is that He is God.  He is the only ONE capable of searching the heart and discerning the motives behind people’s actions.   So when we are tempted to judge people’s actions and their motives, we would be wise to leave that up to the only One who sees all.  “Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.” 1Cor 4:5

However, when it comes to ourselves, He has given us a powerful tool to expose and remove impure motives from our own hearts.  The bible says in Hebrews 4:11-13 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents (motives) of the heart.”

So what motive is God looking for?  What motive has the lasting power to endure all things to end accompanied by a clear conscious?  You probably guessed it by now!  Love! “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.” 1Cor 13:4-8

So the next time I go to tweet, write a blog, make a phone call, send a text, join a ministry, or I do that thing, whatever that “thing” may be; I am going to ask myself these questions.  Is this kind?  Am I doing this out of impatience, envy or to boast?  Am I being proud, or am I dishonoring anyone?  Am I just looking out for myself or doing this because I am angry?  Am I trying to payback someone because of the record of wrong I am keeping of them?  Am I telling that persons business because I am gossiping out of evil and rejoicing in their shortcomings?  Is what I am doing based on the truth of God’s word?  Does it protect or expose people’s weaknesses?  Have I trusted that situation or that person to God, and am I believing the best?

Maybe this goal is as far reaching as my yet unattained Grammy Award.  Oh well! I am still going to try, still going to press, and still to going to reach toward it because love perseveres and LOVE is the only thing that NEVER FAILS!