Good morning. As I write this today, I can sit here and look outside my front door and see beautiful blue skies and the sun shinning so bright. It is giving me this false sense of spring time and warm weather. If I am not careful, I will catch spring fever. But not everyone feels this way. Some, during this time of year, deal with severe depression. On which side of the scales, (happy or sad) do you rest upon?
This weeks topic is one that all of us have said at one time or another, and I’m sure you know someone who either has or does make the same claim. “I’m not hurting anybody”. Have you ever heard someone say, “it’s my life”? Well, what makes it, our life? Did we create ourselves? Do we give ourselves breath? Did we wake up one morning and program our hearts to beat and our lungs to breath, our legs to walk and our arms to move? What about our attitudes, do you think they matter? When others are around you, would they say you were positive to be around or negative? Does it really matter?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Ephesians 4:29-32 says, “29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” Mark 9:41-42 says, “41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. 42 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.”
“I’m not hurting anybody”. Some do not care about themselves and have convinced themselves that the way they live and the way they treat others is of no effect. Have you ever walked up to a pond, or a lake, and the surface of the water appear to be perfectly smooth? Have you ever taken a rock and tried to skip it across the water, or just thrown a rock in it? If you have done this, did you notice how the ripples seemed to continue to roll until they reached the water’s edge? You may say, “well I don’t see what relevance pond ripples has to my attitude and my life”. Let me try to express my point like this. Have you ever been in a boat and had a barge or houseboat come by and throw those big waves at your little boat? Those big waves can sometimes sink smaller boats, if they are not navigated properly.
Our lives, and our attitudes have an effect on those around us. Whether we want to admit it or not. We try to tell ourselves and others that this is not true, because we don’t want to feel any guilt, but none the less, it is true. Have you ever had a bag of potatoes that had one bad potato in it, and the next thing you know, it has made all the potatoes around it bad? We can have the same effect on those we come into contact with as well.
Do you know someone who is always down, his or her glass is always half empty? You know the type I’m speaking of. The kind that if you have a cold, they have pneumonia. If you have had a rough week, they have had a terrible week. If you are having a little trouble just making ends meet, they are worse off because they had to go to Shoneys instead of O’Charleys. These types of people tend to bring others down with them.
As a child of Christ, we are not going to have perfect days or a perfect life, but we are going to have someone with us to see us through the hard times. Because of this, it is our duty to show others the positive difference Christ makes in our lives and let some of the happy in us rub off on those around us.
We can be a sour puss and make all those around us sour pusses, and grieve the Holy Spirit, or we can be excited and happy to have Jesus in our lives and know that the trials and valleys we face down here cannot compare to the heaven God has made for us. Which way have you been influencing those around you, and will you continue to influence them the same way from now on?
Remember: The next time you think, or hear someone say, “I’m not hurting anybody”, that you are somebody that may be hurting.
Until next time, please continue to pray for each other, and me, as I continue to pray for each of you.
Love in CHRIST,
Brian Hanvey
Associate Pastor
Bethel Baptist Church