It is so easy to condemn others and yet see ourselves as the only clean, rich, knowledgeable, and spirit-filled individual in the environment. We carry on as if we shall not someday give up this mortal life.
Often, we rely on the consciousness of our being to make judgmental statements that may be used against us spiritually by God. We believe we see and know everything and use our standards to judge others. Friends, that should not be so. For example, we walk through some paths daily and still hit our legs against stones that could make us trip. At such times, many people will say in our pidgin English, ‘you no dey see,’ which means are you blind not to have seen that stone? In truth, many eyes are open but are not seeing because of socio-economic realities of the time. So, instead of criticizing people, let us empathize with them and lend a helping hand. That is why God should open our inner spiritual eyes so that we may receive forgiveness from God – Acts 26:18.
At times we become so proud of our spiritual or material accomplishments, forgetting that pride in itself is a sin hated by God and, before we know it, the very things that made us become the ‘gods’ we serve. We seldom realize that the conscious forgive but, the subliminal records the hurts did to us by others and brings them up once in a while. At times we look at our conscious relationships with God and say, Abba Father, I thank you because I am not like them. Folks, no matter how watertight your piety is, only God is ever holy and perfect.
Unbeknown to us, our subconscious minds could be used against us by God. The subconscious is like our pantry or deep freezer, where we arrange things in an orderly fashion. But at times, we get into the pantry or the deep freezer and see things we never thought were in the house. We stumble across those things when we may not even need them. We have forgotten them, but here they are, making the pantry or freezer clogged, and we then begin to clean them up. So, though we control our conscious nature, we unfortunately do not have control over the unconscious. We cannot see the unconscious nature, but it is open to our Father in the heavenly places.
In the run-up to the 1976 Presidential elections in the United States, many people wanted Jimmy Carter to condemn Bill Clinton over his affairs with Monica Lewinsky. In his response, he did not say; I’ve never committed adultery because I am a born-again Christian, which is the hallmark of most of us, but he said, I’ve looked at many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” – a wise man ready to receive forgiveness from God. Though Carter cannot be charged with any known physical sexual harassment, the mere lust in his heart is abominable and chargeable by the Almighty Jehovah. For me, what Carter did was a confession in humility. He accepted his human failings and God surely won’t count it against him.
At the other end is our unending appetite for material things. Unfortunately, what shall go on the solo-eternal journey with each and every one of us is our usefulness to humanity when we lived.
When I read about people that have never been in business outside appointments, nor worked in the public service with billions in their bank accounts, I just wonder if service should be all about self. Don’t get me wrong. If a person had worked honestly to acquire that humongous wealth, why not? Thank God for death that must take us back to the soil someday.
Let us, please, take a moment to introspect, reflect and ask, is there anyone of us born with the private parcels of land, the estates, the cars, children, wives, husbands, private jets, yachts, Hotels, etcetera? Will there be a coffin also big enough to accommodate all our earthly belongings in the grave, which is our final earthly building? So why must we destroy the lives of people only to die naked?
As we wake into another privileged day, I say to you, as I say to myself, that whatever we have is due to the benevolence and mercy of God. All the worldly accomplishments we are puffed up about were freely given to us by providence because many people are more intelligent than us but yet so poor. The wise know that there is nothing they have that God did not provide, making them humble.
Remember, we are like balloons, and once the balloon’s air escapes if punctured, the balloon in itself becomes flat.
Grace and peace!!!
