Tuesday, March 7, 2017

My Morning Routine



My favorite way to start my day is by taking a morning walk in the neighborhood. The fresh air and daylight do wonders to my well-being, especially during the darker winter days. I wish I could start every day of the week by taking a morning walk but in reality I strive to get a walk in there 1-2 mornings per week.


We are back to having no snow in Toronto again but the upside of this is that you don't have to worry about slippery roads during your morning walk.



I also make reading my Bible a part of my morning routine. On most days of the week I read two chapters in the Bible in the morning. I love starting my day with The word of God because it sets my day on the right path from start. Every new day brings thousands of opportunities to become irritated, to gossip, to lash out on people etc. When I start my day in The Word I'm more likely to refrain from lashing out on people as I remember the words I read at the beginning of my day. One passage that really stood out to me from my morning Bible reading last week was 1 Peter 3:9-12.

"Do not repay evil for evil. Do not retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. For the Scriptures say,

"If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the LORD turns his face
against those who do evil."

1 Peter 3:9-12 (NLT)


Every day when I interact with people I have an opportunity to put more love or more evil into the world. The problem is as long as I'm focused on how other people are acting I will always find a reason to gossip, lash out on others, yell at my husband etc. It's always tempting to tell myself that it's okay to treat others in an unloving way because they started it. Then again, I can not really complain about the evil in the world if I myself am feeding the evil in the world.

Every time I choose to respond to an insult with an insult I'm adding a small dosage of evil to the universe. I can't change other people, but I have all the power over my own thoughts and actions. I'm an imperfect human-being, being a Christian doesn't mean you will never sin again, what it means is that you have chosen to "put to death your old self" and you have chosen to walk in the light. Every week each one of us will fall into sin hundreds of times, but that doesn't mean we should quit trying to choose love. Every human-being will impact the world around her in one way or another. Every time I choose love over evil matters. It's our thoughts and actions that form the world we live in.

We are never going to feel like responding to an insult with a blessing. We are never going to want to forgive those who have hurt us in the past. Nope. As long as we continue to act based on our feelings and do whatever we want the world will stay exactly as evil as it is today. Change happens when we choose to walk in the light, no matter how much we want to insult someone rather than bless them.


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