Let’s start with the prayer I’d like to call my own at the end of each day.
From a reading in “Devotions for Lent,” a wonderful booklet we’re using at Covenant Church in Palm Bay, these words I’d like us to sincerely pray at the end of today, and every day: “Forgive me, most gracious Lord and Father, if this day I have done or said anything to increase the pain of the world. Pardon the unkind word, the impatient gesture, the hard and selfish deed, the failure to show sympathy and kindly help where I have had the opportunity, but missed it; and enable me so to live that I may daily do something to lessen the tide of human sorrow, and add to the sum of human happiness.” (E.B. Meyer, 1847-1929)
Lately, the word intentionality has come into my realm of thinking. As humans, we have the ability to act rather than to simply react. We have a conscience. If we’re actively living the Christian life, we have, to some degree or other, sanctification, where we are intentionally trying to live the life Jesus modeled for us and the scriptures instruct. We are reminded by James to bridle our tongues, by Jesus to be meek and longsuffering, and by Paul to live the model of Corinthians 13 love. But oh, the stain of sin that inhibits what our minds know when our emotions get involved.
It’s when we’ve been hurt that we lash out. It’s when we’ve been ignored that we rile against injustice. It’s when we’ve disagreed that we become disagreeable. So, I’m hoping that by being proactive in becoming an encourager I can prevent the suffering I feel when I’ve missed the mark. I’m hoping that by intentionally taking steps in faith that I can become a more positive influence on my family and even the strangers at my gates, that I will have less to feel guilty about at day’s end.
No matter what, I’ll never attain perfection. I’ve finally rooted out that evil concept which enslaved me for so many years. I am not, never was, never will be perfect, even at this latest attempt to better myself. That’s why I pray that Jesus will cover my really bad attempts, even the failures, by His perfect grace, and that He will help me restrain my actions and my tongue so that I can serve as His light and salt to a world filled with the selfishness of entitlement and the Me First attitude so pervasive everywhere I look. Amen and Amen, God Help Me!
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