100th chapter. To think I was saving it up for a Christmas post.
Such a nice number too...What a waste.
Anyway, As it insinuates....Challenge.
Took one up about a week ago. A big one.
Guess what? I failed spectacularly after barely a quarter into the duration of the challenge.
By right I should be feeling miserable. After all, a MAN, by "all" definitions, is supposed to be able to take up challenges and be manly and...Well, do whatever a man is supposed to do. Failure IS still an option, albeit one of the most unattractive ones, especially to ourselves and to the people around us
(NOTE: I refuse to say the 'W' word in place of 'people'. Who knows how sensitive it can be and how much fury I might incite...).
But ultimately, I'm actually glad that I took up that difficult challenge. Rather than chicken out or think 'rationally' about the possibilities of completing the challenge, sometimes it can be better if you just stop thinking and dive right into it WITH a plan.
True, I failed. But thank God that I learned more about myself and about just how truly difficult it is to live just a short, sustained period of time fully, completely, 100% for Christ.
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It makes me even more impressed by the people doing great things for the church. The leadership, the pastoral ministry, those who move mightily in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
It also got me thinking about one very simple concept.
We don't really know how difficult or even easy something can be unless we try it.
Let me reiterate.
We don't really know how difficult or even easy something can be unless we try it.
That comes down to my favorite pet peeve - Being judgmental.
Oh, before you toss me the comments about me being overly critical of others, let me say that this applies to me too. It applies to everyone, since literally every single person (at least those that I know) have a certain level of tendency to judge people.
Citing a few examples (Once again, for sensitivities' sake, I decided to go with 'We' instead of 'You'):
-We don't know how difficult doing an offering message can be until we do it.
-We don't know how difficult thinking of a suitable praise and worship song and preparing for it is until we do it.
-We don't know how difficult leading a cellgroup is until we try to do it.
-We don't know how difficult planning an event for people of varying interests is until we get down to it.
-We don't know how stressful and taxing it is to watch over a zone of people is until we experience the difficulties.
-We don't know how seemingly impossible it is to watch over a church of over 30k people is until you experience the sleepless nights, the derisive public and press and the criticisms and abandonment of people whom you thought were friends.
We don't know how it is until we have done it, or experienced it.
so until then, any judgement, verbal or otherwise is not justified.
Yes, mistakes are made. Some of them are horrendous, even. But what does our criticism do? Is it constructive, or are we just trying to put them down in our own minds or make them seem smaller in the eyes of others?
Doesn't mean you have to shackle it completely, though, since it is natural for imperfect creatures like us to dwell on the negative side of things.
Still, it would do you and I a whole world of good if we just keep trying to keep our judgment in check, or at the very least repent from it .
Keeping a judgment or opinion about a certain person after he or she misunderstood you doesn't show repentance, by the way.
No worries...We are all guilty of it at one point. Reassess, reflect, and change.
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