“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
Your joy is a precious commodity and there are thieves that are keen to take it from you. There are thieves such as envy, worry, pride and doubt. Any of these can rip-off your joy and leave you down for days – or longer. I have found that fear is a biggie. In fact all the thieves are really working to take away your faith which is the basis for your joy. One thief on which I am an expert is self-pity.
I haven’t become an expert by observation. Self-pity is an issue with which I have had to battle head on – on more than a few occasions. During a significant battle on holidays once, God spoke to my heart about self-pity and it’s effects on me after I got a tick. That nasty little thing was hard to diagnose, hard to find and hard to remove. At first you don’t notice it, then it starts to sting. The tick grows as it feeds on you, and as it slowly releases its poison.
What triggers self-pity in you?
My birthday is coming up this week. I don’t know about you but it seems that these occasions can cause us to reflect with a perspective that is selfish and negative. I woke up the other day feeling a little flat. It took a little while longer before I had diagnosed another flare up of the self-pity infection.
It’s easy to start to feel sorry for yourself, there’s even a kind of comfort that we can feel in it. But joy cannot exist with self-pity. And it’s only a matter of time before your self-pity will help you to justify being grumpy with others.
It’s no good nursing the tick – you have to get it out before a sting becomes a sickness. Holding on to some claim or right to feel sorry for yourself will only hurt you and your relationships. Let it go. Be grateful. Think about how you can make things better for other people.
Is a thief threatening your joy today?
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