“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 NLT
Everything is perfect – you’ve worked hard to be sure every corner is free of construction residue. The carpets are pristine and new. All the furniture is situated so your home looks show-room perfect.
To celebrate, you’ve invited several guests to your housewarming party. You have food, beverages and mood lighting. All is perfect until the first guest spills some punch on the light-colored living room rug.
Do you:
Run around behind each guest, reminding them not to spill things on your new carpet? Get angry at your careless guest as you drag out the monster steam cleaner? Blame yourself and get all depressed as you blot it up? Forgive them, blot it up quickly so it won’t stain and go on with the party, enjoying your guests?
Maybe this seems like a silly illustration, but our reaction to a spill on the carpet is a lot like our reaction to those around us who cause us hurt whether intentional or not.
When Christ comes into our lives, we become new – our heart houses receive a complete makeover and we want to show off His presence. In essence, we begin to learn new ways of relating to people through forgiveness and love because of his presence in our lives.
But the minute someone does or says something careless, unkind or vicious to us, we quickly pull out our old ways of relating and lash out at others or blame ourselves, retreating behind our old ways of dealing with others.
We must continually trust the Christ who lives in us to help us deal with hurts and the stains of life in his way, not our own. After all, someone may have spilled something on our life’s carpet, but it’s still OUR carpet and our responsibility to clean it up his way with his help.
Lord, help me to remember that you live in me now and you’ll always be there to help me deal with the hurts and stains of life.
