Facebook, fractions and flaws

  
So I’m a day late. In all of my time writing, I don’t recall ever missing a deadline. I guess I hit a little bit of writer’s block and I just couldn’t think of what to write about. But this morning, creativity struck in the form of a Facebook post. 

Now I know what you’re thinking, “He gets his blog ideas from Facebook? What a crock!” Well, I find social media the perfect breeding ground for the occasional idiot and silly post. But I digress. 

This particular post was your typical whine-bag type deal that was basically complaining about someone else’s problem, how people aren’t setting Christ-like examples of themselves, it shouldn’t matter where I go to church…blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. 

The first thing I thought was, “So what?” But then I thought, “Let’s see how we can solve this problem.” So, I did what any self respecting person would do, I resorted to fractions. 

As I learned all those years ago, the only way you can add fractions is to find a common denominator. So, what was the common denominator in this problem? It was people. 

Let’s just be clear on one thing cupcake, people tend to make mistakes. Ok, people are flawed! We make all kinds of mistakes, false moves and we let folks down…a lot. 

Here’s the thing though, if you are naive enough to wait for people to say and do the right things, you are going to live an incredibly disappointing life. People will always let you down because they are flawed, regardless if they are saved or not. They will pick and criticize any move you make and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

All of that being said, it’s time to pay more attention to your Creator than your critics. Why not draw from the One that is flawless rather than focus on the flawed?

By shifting your focus, you are taking your eyes off of yourself and seeing what He has to say to you. If God has instructed you to do something, who cares what other people say or do? 

Let’s move on to what the Word says. The ENTIRE chapter of Romans 8 focuses on Jesus as the solution to living life on God’s terms and not our own. Take a look at verses five through eight:

Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.

So let’s get back to fractions real quick. The prior common denominator was people. Upon reviewing that people are flawed, we see a situation that seems pretty abysmal. But we do have a solution: living life on God’s terms. 

This means that we have to shift our focus from ourselves and our critics to God, the author and perfector of our faith. 

So there you have it! As always, sharing and comments are appreciated. Have a great one and y’all be safe out there.