Stealing Blessings
By Lisa Boyer
“Bless and do not
curse.”
Romans 12:14b
Do
you ever think about cause and effect in relationships?
A
few months ago, I had been thinking about cause and effect between generations.
I had thought about the effect a grandmother’s faith had on a mother and then
the mother’s faith had had on her child - - like Paul mentions in the book of
Timothy - - but then the thought went one step further. I realized the
grandmother’s faith ultimately had an effect on me, because the grandchild’s
faith had an effect on me. And I found myself grateful for the faith of a woman
I’d never met.
But
this week, I was thinking about cause and effect on a much smaller scale.
Someone had said something that hurt my feelings and I got upset (okay, angry
is a far more accurate description). Anyway, I was angry for two days before I
came to my senses, got over it and moved on. But then I realized what kind of
effect my anger had had on those two days….
The
truth is, I smile a lot and like to make people smile (and laugh, if possible).
But on those two days…
because
I was angry, I wasn’t smiling…
because
I wasn’t smiling, I wasn’t cheering people up…
because
I wasn’t cheering people up, people were stuck in their bad day…
because
they were stuck in a bad day, they likely spread that bad day with others.
Okay,
maybe I am taking it a bit too far, but even so, my anger had stolen more than
just my joy, it had stolen blessings - - blessings meant for others and
blessings meant for me. Not huge blessings, but simple blessings: the blessing of a friendly smile and the
blessing of brightening someone’s day, even if it was just for a moment.
I
was doing a little research in the Bible on the purpose of life and, while
there is no one explicit statement, there are an awful lot of statements about
what we are to do, and most of them have to do with love. I don’t know about
you, but I show love much better with a smile than I do with a frown.
I
intend to be way more careful about what effect I have on others and, for me,
that begins with a smile!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What kind of effect are you having on others?
Today, will you pray and ask God how He wants you to impact those around you
for His glory?
FURTHER READING:
Lisa
has been married to Ted for 20 years and they have two teenage sons. Lisa
administers Fresh Start’s Facebook and blog, and loves hanging out with and
impacting teenage girls for Christ.
