this year i decided to take a position as the disciplinary member of the executive board for my sorority. a role that i initially thought was simply the secretary has turned into an administrative nightmare where i am required to function as a friend as well as a mother hen for one hundred chaotic chicks running amuck. but, now that i am two quarters into my three quarter term, i have realized that God is using this role in chapter to teach me a new lesson.
having many friends (who are also trouble makers it turns out!) within chapter who are violating the rules that i am working so hard to instill and enforce has proved to be a major challenge for me. initially i took many of the breaks very personally wishing that the girls understood that my entire job was to create a value-based chapter and they were making me look bad. however, this attitude quickly changed and i began to disassociate myself. when a girl made a bad decision i would mark the offender off of my list of favorite people... but this proved to be a problem because i was running into behavioral problems with all of my closest friends.
so, moral of my short story. every man is a fallen angel. even me. if i close out all of the people in my life that sin, i will be lonely, and will have to find a way to separate myself from me. welp, that's impossible. just like breaking a human away from what makes them human - sin.
"to adam He said, "because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which i commanded you, 'bou must not eat of it,'
"cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life."" -genesis 3:17
just like the bible says in genesis, man was fallen from our very start. we took no time at all to find temptation overwhelming and lose ourselves amongst the throes of troublesome times. i have read the bible for years, but have failed to understand the basic premise of its greatest lesson. i am fallen. everyone is fallen.
it is because we are fallen that Christ was required to pay for our sins on the cross.
so, why is this lesson important? it's easier to forgive, to forget, to appreciate the faults of others and yourself when you come to terms with the fact that everyone is fallen. no single person is going to break outside of what makes us all human. i challenge you to find the failures that you love most about yourself and about others. find that friend that you love because they are always late and don't get flustered. find the friend that owns their inability to keep a secret. find another friend that realizes they make bad choices, but is willing to learn from each consequence. or maybe one (much like me) who takes everything personally and cares too much about pleasing others.
and most importantly, pray. a simple prayer and a listening ear means the world to every sinner. yes, even you. it's so nice to know that there are others thinking of me, praying for me, pleading with God in my best interest because i know that i don't pray enough as it is!
song of the day:
instruments of your peace - kendall payne
"where there is hatred, we will sow His love,
where there is injury, we will never judge,
where there is striving, we will speak His peace,
to the people crying for release
we will be instruments of Your peace."
let us be instruments of His peace, His forgiveness, His greatness.
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