Well, last week I wrote on complaining and I stated that I was going to 'fast' from complaining for a week. I guess this is my report card. Thanks to my improvement from thinking about it every day, I would give myself a ‘C’; which means without the extra attention, I would be flunking. So, until I can get an ‘A’, I will keep retesting. It was an amazing little assignment that was very revealing. I never really saw my 'complaining' as complaining. I know that many things about my personality and my skills can make me come across as complaining, and I used that as my excuse. Let me explain a little more. My main spiritual gift is exhortation. Exhortation is helping people to spiritually grow; that means I give advice a lot! (I am envisioning some of you saying right now, “that’s an understatement” but I am not listening to you! lol) My background in HR, Change Management, and Training has taught me to look for what is wrong and find a way to fix it. Now I am a Wellness Coach and again, I give a lot of encouraging advice. Lastly, my dominate personality trait is an external feeler. This means I process externally by talking about how I feel. Now I have a new awareness of how these things can come across as complaining; even to me. The first morning after my commitment, the first words out of my mouth was, “why do we leave the dishes in the sink when the dishwasher is empty?” It was at that moment, I knew it was going to be a long week.
There are many strongholds in our life that we are not going to be able to clean up in one week. I know we wish we could, but that is like expecting all of our extra pounds to fall off in one week. But quitting after one week is giving up and accepting the sin or flaw in our life.
How did you do on your complaining? Your struggle may not be complaining, it may be something else. Are you willing to work longer than a week? Are you ready to keep retesting until you get an ‘A’?
Watch your words and hold your tongue; you'll save yourself a lot of grief.
Proverbs 21:23
1 comment:
Working on bettering something requires patience as well....and I am lacking in those too. Lord help me! :-)
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