Do you feel like someone is watching you?

They are...and they're listening too

Last night I was reminded of a simple truth. “Even when we don’t realize people are watching…they are. They are listening too.” These words rolled off the Pastor’s tongue and I had to take a quick inventory of my actions and words.  The weekend had been a particularly difficult one. My little family of three (my husband, my son and me) spent most of the weekend out of sorts. Frustrations were high…and unfortunately angry words were spoken and some responses and reactions weren’t really thought through.

Have you been there?

The stress level in your home is at an all-time high and thoughtless words roll off your tongue. You don’t realize the impact your words make until they are already hanging out there. Perhaps you’re like me and engage your brain the split second after you open your mouth. The words are out and you wish you could do everything in your power to shovel them back in before feeling get hurt or anger levels get elevated.

Ugh! Sometimes it’s just so hard for me to produce the self-control fruit (Galatians 5:22 – 23)…this weekend proved that point in my life.

One of the verses that really challenged me last night was found in Titus 2:3. The New Living Translation says:

“…live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good.”

If I am being watched by the people around me (my husband and my son included) I have to ask myself the question “do I live in a way that honors God?” I would like to think the answer to that question is yes…but it would only be “some of the time.” “Some of the time” they see me reading my Bible, humming a Praise song, and standing strong on the promises and truths of God’s word. Other times, they see my humanity get the better of me and my self-control flies out the window allowing me to become the worst version of myself.

Can I just stop right here and say how THANKFUL I am that God sees my lack of self-control and loves me just the same. Of course, he doesn’t want me to stay that way…but He doesn’t give up on me just because I’ve had a bad day.

What about the people who become a part of my bad day…what do they see? They certainly don’t see Jesus when I lose all self-control. Sometimes the only Jesus people will ever see is in me.

Gulp!

My little loss of self-control over the weekend ended up with me going back and apologizing for the way I acted. Even though my intentions were good, the delivery was not so good and didn’t honor God one bit.

We all fall…I’m not saying we have to live perfect lives… there was only ONE who ever did that. We just have to recognize there are people watching and listening to us whether we realize it or not.  If we mess up…we have to have the integrity to fess up. When we do, we bring honor to God and reveal more of who Christ is to the people around us.