Do No Harm

This weeks Sunday sermon really spoke to my heart.  Pastor Steve started a new sermon series on Keeping it Simple!  Its a study on John Wesley's teachings as the founder of the Methodist Church ways.

 He has Three General Rules for Methodist:  

DO NO HARM
DO GOOD
STAY IN LOVE WITH GOD 

  Seems pretty easy right!  NOPE!  We humans mess this up all the time!  Me included, or maybe I should say me especially.   Today we  touched on the first one, Do No Harm!  Seems simple enough, I am not an angry person by nature, and I can't imagine purposefully hurting someone physically.  But how often do my words hurt someone else, intentionally or not.

 This last few weeks I have been on the receiving end of some hurtful words spoken to me and directed at me, by few different people at different times.  I am a people pleaser by nature so this is really hard for me!  I do not like to disappoint people, or be on their bad side.   Both times I stewed on it for days allowing their words to continually loop a recording of it in my head.  Both times I allowed it to distract me from hearing Gods truth. 

This mornings sermon reminded me of God's truth, He gave us free will!  We have to choose how to use it, to live life out with this free will.

Galatians 5:13-15 The Message (MSG)13-15 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

Wow! Am I living this out in my life?  Am I careful with my words-not only to others but to myself as well?  

Matthew 22:37-40 The Message (MSG)

37-40 Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

Everything in Gods law comes down to two things: Love God and Love People!  What would our world look like if we did this?

Pastor Steve gave us a red string to tie around our wrist, so that we would be reminded of this.  So that as we go through our days this next week, we will be reminded of this truth, to Love God and Love People!

 As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to live out our faith-  to serve others, to feed the poor,  to love God and his people.   When we  don’t do this we are not living out our purpose.

Do No Harm!   This includes to  myself what things am I saying to myself what words loop through my brain time after time that don’t follow God‘s truth to love him and love other people !   We can bring harm to ourselves with our thoughts,  with our words, and it plays out in our lives through bad relationships, and unhealthy eating, bad choices that we make.   Does the soundtrack of my life honor God?   If not what can I do to make it so that it does !?

Hurting people hurt people! I need to rember this when someone speaks unkind, hurtful words to me.

 No set of laws rules or regulations can guarantee that the spirit will live in us!  But God‘s word does!

Galatians 5:18 English Standard Version (ESV)

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

That's my goal, to be led by the Spirit. I know I can not do this on my own! I need to be connected to God. So how do I do this? Prayer, time in His word, and spending time with other believers. 

 It's funny how God works sometimes.  Not like ha ha funny but like wow, how did I not see this coming, kinda funny. I have been struggling, and feeling like I haven't heard from God, like He is being silent.  I know He is with me and hasn't left me, even-though I struggle with feeling alone, not enough.  I have allowed His truths to be taken over by the noise of this world lately.  In one way its with those thoughts and words that loop through my mind: You are not smart enough, good enough, enough!!  So next time those things start overshadowing Gods truth, I need to remember I am enough because my God is bigger than those lies!

With today’s sermon, some daily devotions I have been reading and the new study I am about to embark on, I know without a doubt God is with me. He is showing me through these things. These reoccurring truths.  And  As I am preparing to start a new Bible Study tomorrow.  Discerning the Voice of God I am excited to see where God is going to show up, what He will speak to me and to the other women who will be on this journey with me.

Have a Blessed Day! 

Christina