Day 31 – The Price of Judging and Competing
Farmer of Hearts - Finding God in All Things
English - March 24, 2021 14:07 - 9 minutes - 11.3 MBChristianity Religion & Spirituality catholic lent prodigal son our journey home i thirst bible farmer of hearts retreat finding order in chaos chaos Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
In our society, we often ask, “What is my fair share?” “What is my entitlement?” It is as if the world and others owe us many things that should rightfully be ours. How much is enough? Our wants seem to be endless. We often ask, “How can I protect my rights so that I am not taken advantage of?” But where should we draw the line?
Our lens, our attitudes, our emotions, our actions, and our relationships with others will change for the better. We will shift from the two sons’ demanding mode, to the father’s generous giver mode. From bitterness to joyous; from doubting to trusting; from comparing to caring. The world changes for the better because of the change of our perspective.
Envy, greediness, and all sorts of evil spirits take hold of us, and we are enslaved in our little and limited world.
But in God’s Creation, there is only abundance, nothing good is lacking.This widens rather than constrains our minds, hearts and spirit. How we see things really matters!
The common belief is that COMPETITION leads to improvement. However, it cannot be achieved without a huge price. As we strive to outperform others, we get into a competitive mindset. That fosters egocentrism and selfishness that puts us into a FIGHTING mode instead of a SHARING and COLLABORATIVE mode, which results in huge negative consequences. It causes division rather than promote unity, which threatens to tear our human fabric apart in the long run. That is why the more advanced our society is, the faster the pace of development, the more crooked our morality and spirituality are. This applies to both individual and collective or social structural levels.
Satan keeps raising its ugly head in every circumstance of our daily lives. We often fall into the temptation warned against by Jesus that we tend to notice the speck in other’s eyes but not perceive the wooden beam in our own (Matthew 7:3). We become impatient; we refuse to listen; and we jump to conclusions. The underlying factors of this mentality and behavior originate from PRIDE.
Pride arises when we do not know our IDENTITY and our BELOVEDNESS and worthiness in God’s eyes.When we do not know our true identity, we cannot feel our worthiness. We become insecure, and we have low self esteem. This condition will once again trigger our JUDGMENT and COMPETITION mechanism. This vicious cycle will eventually destroy our final stronghold —— our TRUST in God and in others.
Judgment is the trap the elder son has fallen into, which entrapped the Pharisees in Jesus’ time as well. Judging blinds our minds, corrupts our spirit, and robs our hearts of the ability to be merciful to others.
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” ― Mother Teresa
REFLECTION
Which question do you ask more often, “Am I getting enough?” or “Am I giving enough?”
Do you often perceive people as rivals or threats rather than friends and collaborators?
How competitive are you and how merciful are you? Are these compatible with each other?
TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear Abba Father, You have granted me companions on my journey but I have mistaken them as my competitors. You have granted me gifts and graces but I see them as my entitlements or my personal accomplishments. You have showered me with abundant resources but I only see scarcity and deficiencies. How distorted is my vision and how unreliable I am in perceiving things clearly as they really are. How I need You, Lord in clearing my clouded mind, in replacing my heart of stone with Your merciful heart, and in breathing in me Your Spirit so as to expel my judgmental and competitive spirits. May I embark on a new journey today as I resolve to see things differently by seeking Your vision and Your heart!
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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