Monday; July 11

I don’t think of myself as being too obsessive, but I do have some of those tendencies. I choose to avoid some activities because I might be tempted to over-indulge in them. While this can troubling, you would think that being spiritually compulsive might always be good, but even that can present issues. Sure, it is good to develop positive habits, but the other side of obsessiveness is when we worry about the mistakes (or the possible mistakes) we make. We don’t have to worry about being libertine in our actions, we have to monitor being oversensitive to our issues. Some of us must figure out how to balance the paranoia of worrying about every little thing with our calling to be above reproach in our righteousness.

So, what can we do to maintain our righteousness without stressing ourselves out? First, we need to develop a good conscience. We need to have a solid biblical foundation that guides our actions. Yet, we need to make sure we are doing good without expecting more than is humanly possible. Once we lay this foundation for ourselves, we can move on to our interactions with others. The Lord challenges us, “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” (Luke 6:31). When we think about how we would like to be treated by others we can apply common sense and wisdom to our actions toward others. Interestingly, we might expect perfection from ourselves while tolerating humanity from others. Maybe if we add a dose of reality to our self-expectations, we’ll find the balance we need.

Let’s be the best we can be – but understand our limitations as humans. When we approach our lives in this way, we will be able to be good and enjoy life.

Think About It!

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