I have a loooooooonnnnnnggggggg way to go in that department, but I’ve realized that when I read a passage in the Bible, hear a sermon or read Christian literature, I first think of how that applies to my life (what I’m doing right or wrong) and then take action. Much later (and hopefully not much at all), I might think of how it applies to others I know. As my small group has been going through a recent study on grace, I’m actually open to pondering how grace can be applied in that situation

When I was less mature, I thought about God’s word in the reverse - how it relates to others, and then myself (oops). An even more powerful sign of spiritual IM-maturity is not just pondering how a message relates to another person’s life, but then acting on the desire to point it out to them in the guise of “helping them.”

This is a perfect example of when in the parable about the seed and the sower, when the birds come to eat the seed that fell on the road. God gives us a nugget of wisdom, but allowing Satan to tempt us into thought or action with self-righteousness and hypocrisy allows him to essentially “steal the word, ” since it no longer can bear fruit in our lives.

Hindsight is 20/20, but its always nice to see when God is working in our lives. I often get an unbalanced equation, looking to improve the next area of my attitude with which I am not pleased. God wants us to see the good that he does in our lives, so we give him the glory, and also so we can tell others about his goodness and mercy.

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