By Marilyn Travis
I found a poem my mother had saved from a magazine. The
author is unknown, but it was published sometime in the early 1970’s.
You Tell on Yourself
You tell on yourself by the
friends you seek,
By the very manner in which
you speak,
By the way you employ your
leisure time,
By the use you make of dollar
and dime.
You tell on yourself by the
things you wear,
By the spirit in which your
burdens you bear,
By the type of things at
which you laugh,
By the records you play on
your phonograph.
You tell what you are by the
way you walk,
By the things of which you
delight to talk,
By the manner in which you
can bear defeat,
By so simple a thing as how
you eat.
By the books you choose from
the library shelf,
By these things and more, you
tell on yourself.
We must be very careful how we, as Christians, are behaving
these days. We live in an atmosphere of great tension as a result of the events
of 2020. We have an opportunity to minister to others and show Christ to the
world through our words, be it on social media or in person, and through our
deeds.
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that
through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption
in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason make every effort to add to your faith goodness;
and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to
self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness,
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these
qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and
unproductive in our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:3-8
Paul teaches us:
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ, God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved
children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up
for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 4:32 – 5:2
Take time to listen to Sister Sarah O’Rourke, Salesian,
Ireland. It is five minutes well spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment