And sometimes way more than they should.
What people do to us or what people don’t do.
What people say to us or don’t say can lead to our feeling dumped on.
And way too often we receive with open arms their garbage, as if it were a gift bestowed upon us.
Verbal garbage is like acid in our souls.
It burns.
It eats…no, it gnaws at our minds,
tearing away our peace,
puncturing our joy,
slashing our self-confidence.
Deflated,we often internalize the situation
and begin to dump on ourselves
with name-calling and self-defeating negative mirror talk.
And then we wonder why we fight depression.
It’s time to do something about it!
Old News
OK. I’m not rehashing last week’s blog, but I do want to expand on it. The fact is, we must REFUSE to embrace garbage even when somebody wants to dump it on us.New News
Sometime people do dump their garbage and while I understand it was their garbage and not mine, sometimes, I’m left to deal with it. It has to be cleaned up!Refuse to allow offense. Tweet this!
So instead of allowing myself to become offended, which I know is not the route to walking in spiritual victory, I run to the cross.I repent.
I ask God to heal my hurt.
To help me love instead of indulging in all the attitudes that produce death in me and others:Anger.
Resentment.
With drawing.
Building walls around my hurt.
Hatred.
We know to do that and we do, but sometimes…we still hurt.
And sometimes we hurt really BAD.
Deal With It!
I don’t know how you deal with it, but there have been times that I simply didn’t deal with it at all. I just pushed down the pain and keep on going.
And every time the poison festered the wound I would repent of a bad attitude and push it back down again.Ignoring pain or bitterness doesn’t heal it. It just delays the healing. Tweet this!
Wayne didn’t ignore the lizard coming up his leg. He dealt with it. He knew the lizard couldn’t hurt him, but he wouldn’t let it torment him either. He didn’t set up a feeding program for the lizard or build it a nice little house.That would be ridiculous!I am learning that I have a role in my healing process. Tweet this!
I have a responsibility to think,to understand that pain can be a strategic warning signal or symptom of a underlying problem. When a doctor sees a symptom, he thinks, “What is causing this pain?”
So I think.
I ask myself.
I ask God,
“Why did this bother me?
What is going on here?”
Did I feel Rejected?
Unloved?
Worthless?
Excluded?
Stupid?
Honestly, sometimes the root is merely that I need a good nights sleep and the next morning I am fine.Filter it. Don’t digest it.
I take that feeling or attitude, writhing and flaying into the light,this is important,
into the light of God’s Word.
What does God say about me?
Am I worthless?
Does the only one that really matters, God, reject me?
I renew my mind with God’s Word.
I change my way of thinking.
I soak my mind, like I would soak my tired feet in Epsom salts and hot water.I soak my mind in God’s Word,
in God’s presence,
in God’s love.
Many times during the day, I seize moments. I make moments to refresh my mental screen and see myself as God sees me. Tweet this! I don’t allow somebody else to hand me a trick carnival mirror that distorts my self-image. I use the mirror of God’s Word to shape my self-perception.It requires discipline.
It’s work. It’s a fight.But you’re worth it.
Did I say “you”?That’s right you’re worth it.
I changed the pronoun from I to you, because that’s what this blog is really about. It’s about you! You don’t have to digest garbage, but when somebody does dump THEIR garbage in your yard… turn it into fertilizer!I almost forgot.
There’s at least one more step in the healing process. Ask God to show you the garbage truck driver’s issue. Ask God to show you their chain, their brokenness, their hurt. The pain that drives them to dump their garbage on you!Then when God shows you…
don’t tell anybody!!!!! (Except God.)
Pray for them.
And I’m not talking about one of those pitiful lay me down to sleep prayers. I mean pray like crazy for that person. Pray that God will heal their hurt.Do you know what will happen?
You’ll grow.
And you’ll become more like Jesus…
but something else will happen too.
So needed this today. It was sent my way today for a purpose. Love you Carolyn
Awesome encouragement❤
Thank you, both! God bless you!