Presenting ...
... a weekly letter of encouragement.
May 9, 1994
Good Morning
BETWEEN STIMULUS AND RESPONSE, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE
Freedom of choice! How we love it!
What we don't like is the responsibility that accompanies
our choices...especially when the consequences of our choices
take us sideways. So we rationalize:
"I came from a dysfunctional family"
"My father never told me he loved me."
"The devil made me do it." (Flip Wilson)
Perhaps for too long we have indulged in this thing called LIBERTY:
Making choices without bearing the responsibility of those choices.
In the U. S. we have the STATUE OF LIBERTY on the East
Coast. Maybe what we need is a STATUE OF RESPONSIBILITY
on the West Coast. We could all then choose to live somewhere
between LIBERTY and RESPONSIBILITY!
"BETWEEN STIMULUS AND RESPONSE, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY
TO CHOOSE"
Often, when given choices, we choose poorly as did the Jews when
Christ offered them intimacy and protection:
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...How often I wanted
to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks
under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold,
your house is being left to you desolate." (Matthew 23:37,18)
Joshua, on the other hand, stands out as one who responded correctly
in making the right choice:
"Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve...but
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
(Joshua 24:15)
BETWEEN STIMULUS AND RESPONSE WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE.
We may not always be able to control the stimulus that confronts
us, but we can choose to respond correctly. Ultimately,
the battlefield of our spiritual lives lies in the will: How
and what we choose will reflect the very core of our secret life
in God.
Have a great week!
Dwight Hill
© Copyright 1996 Dwight Hill. Unlimited permission to copy or use is hereby granted subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.
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