A choice

Our pastor has been teaching a series called soul sessions.
It has been challenging.
He was sharing the other morning how subtle things can be for us
and how we can have our souls affected by something in a way we don’t fully recognize.
It is sneaky. It is disguised as something perhaps good… yet very bad for us.
For example… the boss wants you to volunteer for over time. You say: I need the money so you compromise time from family and home for money that won’t be here for very long.
Pastor says something that is toxic to us is anything capable of causing sickness or death.
Using my example: working over time is not bad in itself but is it creating life in a relationship or building souls? He said toxic things can be consuming to us – consuming the life out of us.
I have seen people so involved in things that it removes the potential for relationship. In their process of doing they forget how to live which is where our focus really should be.
To be so consumed by what you might gain for the wrong reason is a sad situation.
The focus needs to be on relationships and asking questions of ourselves and others, “how is your day going and how is your soul feeling?”
When we demolish every thought that might be hurtful or unkind and not edifying to a relationship we take hold of the toxic potential and stop it before it even begins.
Have you ever seen something toxic?
Remember the oil spill pictures on TV and all the ‘death’ it brought to the ocean?
We can be that way too. We can bring death to relationships by allowing the thick gooey layer of toxic behavior take hold and wrap itself around something that was once a positive and beautiful thing.
Have you ever met someone who appeared to be ‘nice’ and then as you begin to talk to them out of their mouths comes words that are negative, offensive and critical. You walk away from them feeling ‘dumped on’ as the debris of their hearts sit near your soul. It is hurtful.
I pray that we learn to take every thought captive before we say anything.
Our Pastor says our souls are always eavesdropping in every conversation.
When our children were little every time the phone rang they would ‘eavesdrop’ on the conversation. They would drop everything they were doing so they could stop and listen. The picture in my mind of our souls leaning over and pressing in to hear every word is impressive to me. I remember saying to our children…”go find something to do”… they would reply …”but I want to listen.”
Our souls are doing the same.
May our challenge be to remember that we can give life or give death…
it is all a matter of choice.