Today I want to continue looking at the box but this time I want to take a different approach. Let me ask this question to start - When we get a Christmas present what is the most important part? We certainly like the nice wrapping job (unless I did the wrapping), the colorful paper and the pretty bows. But after about two seconds of looking at it, we tear right through to get to the good stuff inside. Yet we do just the opposite with people?
With people sometimes their appearance is the most important. Have you ever looked at some good looking TV star who was having personal problems and thought - Why does someone with all that going for them have so many problems? The answer is the wrapping paper is more important than the gift.
If you gave me a priceless diamond for my birthday wrapped in a box and I went on and on about the way the box looked. I really admired the shiny wrapping paper and the bow. I made a big deal out of the glossy paper, opened the box and took out the diamond. Then I either threw away the diamond or worse, I told you it was worthless and dropped it.
After that I picked the box back up and played it the rest of the day. I tried to take the box to bed, to school, and to work. I showed all my friends the box and kept the box around day and night but I never ever looked at the diamond. I would be crazy. Yet we do this every day. We look at a good looking girl or guy and our first thought is about their appearance but we never even appreciate what's inside. Please don't misunderstand me, I think working out and taking care of your appearance is important and you should do this. I just think that the most precious part of a person is the inside not the outside.
Why do we do this? One of the reasons is because we don't spend enough time looking at the diamonds inside our own box. We spend time working on the outside of the box or just babysitting it. I work out about 7.5 hours a week. Is that a lot? Not really. There are so many people who work much harder than I do. But lets start with 7.5 hours a week. I spend that working on the outside of my box (and it still needs work). Do I spend at least 7.5 hours working on the important part of me (the inside)? I try to now but I didn't before. How many of us watch TV 7.5 hours a week? We spend plenty of time babysitting our minds yet we never spend anytime developing them or the other diamonds in box.
Another reason is we work on pretend gifts that aren't really in our box (phantom gifts) and we neglect the real ones that are. We do this because we think it will make other people like/accept us instead of developing the real gifts God put in us.
Let me illustrate. When I was in high school, I desperately wanted to be popular and I really wasn't. I was a pimple faced nerd. I was on the football team all four years of school (except for a couple of weeks as a sophomore) and I was one of the worst football players ever. As a matter of fact, when I quit for a few weeks, my coach told my mom that I shouldn't play because I wasn't good. It really made me mad but he was exactly right. After my sophomore year, I was one of the strongest kids on the team but I wasn't a good player. When the list came out for varsity and I wasn't on it, one of the kids in my class ridiculed me in front of people and it crushed me. This was a phantom diamond for me.
On the other hand, I was a pretty good musician in band. I played contra bass clarinet in the band and did really well as a freshman. After my freshman year, I quit the band and wouldn't play because I didn't think it would make me look cool. I couldn't appreciate the beautiful people in band because I didn't understand how really special and talented they were. I didn't think being in band would make me popular like being a jock would. Do you see what I was doing? I wasn't celebrating and developing the natural gifts God put in my box. I was working on phantom gifts because I wanted others to like me.
Unfortunately, I wasn't popular, didn't get the girl and I didn't even like me. Now, I am just me. I quit trying to be good enough for others. Whether anyone likes me or not, I really like me.
So let me ask you, two things. First, how much time are you spending on the gift vs. the box? Second, are you working on the real gifts inside you or the phantom ones just to impress someone else?
That's the Opinion of the Minion
Showing posts with label skills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skills. Show all posts
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Box - 2015
Hello Everyone,
This is one of the first posts I ever created and I think that every once in a while I should repost it because it was so profound to me.
I have given this a lot a of thought and I believe that the Lord showed me something that changed the way I view people.
You see, when God creates a person he gives them abilities, passions, desires, talents and all sorts of wonderful attributes that we seldom ever see. Then he takes all these things and puts them in a box with silver wrapping paper and very pretty red ribbon tied in a bow around it. He calls the box - You. It is a present to the world. When I saw this for the first time, I looked around at all the people walking by and said to myself, "Merry Christmas!" because all I could see were beautiful boxes waiting to be opened.
The problem is many people don't even know what is in their own box much less have taken the time to look in someone elses box. This starts when we are in school. As we grow up, we learn all kinds of new things about ourselves: what we like, what we don't, the changes that our bodies go through, we learn things in school about the world and we learn about social interaction. But sometimes that social interaction teaches us that the stuff in our box isn't all that important.
Have you ever felt like the stuff inside you doesn't really matter? Can you look back to a point in your life where you were doing something you really enjoyed and someone else called it or you stupid or worthless?
When you pull the most precious parts of your life out of the box and let other people see them, it is scary because you are definitely vulnerable at that point. But know this, the Lord put all those wonderful things inside and they are of great price and value. Don't let someone cheapen what is so precious by their comments.
Everyday, I see people who are alive but aren't living. I think it is because they have told themselves that the treasures in their box aren't important or worth much so they don't do anything with them. They may not have done this openly but below the surface it happens. You have to know that if God took the time to create you and put all those treasures inside you, they are important both to him and to me.
When was the last time you looked in your box and pulled out something you truly enjoyed and used it? When was the last time you opened the box? When was the last time you were passionate about anything? Are you so caught up in the rat race that your box isn't important any more?
Here is another interesting question - When was the last time you opened up someone else's box to see who they really are and celebrate the gifts inside them? Do you always know what is wrong with your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids, friends, parents, family, coworkers but never look inside the box for what is so awesome about them?
Husbands, what would happen if instead of criticizing your wife, the next time you saw her, you decided to look at something that was so precious to her, so beautiful, so tender, so amazing and something she loved about herself? What would happen if you nurtured that gift and encouraged it to grow? What would happen if, after you opened her box, she decided that your box was the most special one on earth and decided to touch the core of who you are? What if you both decided to go deep in your relationship?
Boyfriends, what if you looked at her and decided that you wanted more than just what was inside her clothes, you wanted what was inside her heart. Girlfriends, what if you decided that you wanted the same thing? What if you wanted to explore who they are and make them the best person they could be while they did the same thing to you? What if you looked at them and asked, "What can I give?" instead of "What can I get?"
Is this a little intense? Yes. Is it worth it if just one person decides to open their box or open someone elses? Yes. You see, I believe that I got to see a little glimpse of the creation through the creator's eyes when He showed me this. It was truly an eye opening experience and I can definitely say I will never be the same. I got to see how He looked at and longs for His creation to be all that we can be and how His love for us goes so deep His heart aches for us.
So I guess the real question is what is in your box? I want to know.
That's the Opinion of His Minion
This is one of the first posts I ever created and I think that every once in a while I should repost it because it was so profound to me.
I have given this a lot a of thought and I believe that the Lord showed me something that changed the way I view people.
You see, when God creates a person he gives them abilities, passions, desires, talents and all sorts of wonderful attributes that we seldom ever see. Then he takes all these things and puts them in a box with silver wrapping paper and very pretty red ribbon tied in a bow around it. He calls the box - You. It is a present to the world. When I saw this for the first time, I looked around at all the people walking by and said to myself, "Merry Christmas!" because all I could see were beautiful boxes waiting to be opened.
The problem is many people don't even know what is in their own box much less have taken the time to look in someone elses box. This starts when we are in school. As we grow up, we learn all kinds of new things about ourselves: what we like, what we don't, the changes that our bodies go through, we learn things in school about the world and we learn about social interaction. But sometimes that social interaction teaches us that the stuff in our box isn't all that important.
Have you ever felt like the stuff inside you doesn't really matter? Can you look back to a point in your life where you were doing something you really enjoyed and someone else called it or you stupid or worthless?
When you pull the most precious parts of your life out of the box and let other people see them, it is scary because you are definitely vulnerable at that point. But know this, the Lord put all those wonderful things inside and they are of great price and value. Don't let someone cheapen what is so precious by their comments.
Everyday, I see people who are alive but aren't living. I think it is because they have told themselves that the treasures in their box aren't important or worth much so they don't do anything with them. They may not have done this openly but below the surface it happens. You have to know that if God took the time to create you and put all those treasures inside you, they are important both to him and to me.
When was the last time you looked in your box and pulled out something you truly enjoyed and used it? When was the last time you opened the box? When was the last time you were passionate about anything? Are you so caught up in the rat race that your box isn't important any more?
Here is another interesting question - When was the last time you opened up someone else's box to see who they really are and celebrate the gifts inside them? Do you always know what is wrong with your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids, friends, parents, family, coworkers but never look inside the box for what is so awesome about them?
Husbands, what would happen if instead of criticizing your wife, the next time you saw her, you decided to look at something that was so precious to her, so beautiful, so tender, so amazing and something she loved about herself? What would happen if you nurtured that gift and encouraged it to grow? What would happen if, after you opened her box, she decided that your box was the most special one on earth and decided to touch the core of who you are? What if you both decided to go deep in your relationship?
Boyfriends, what if you looked at her and decided that you wanted more than just what was inside her clothes, you wanted what was inside her heart. Girlfriends, what if you decided that you wanted the same thing? What if you wanted to explore who they are and make them the best person they could be while they did the same thing to you? What if you looked at them and asked, "What can I give?" instead of "What can I get?"
Is this a little intense? Yes. Is it worth it if just one person decides to open their box or open someone elses? Yes. You see, I believe that I got to see a little glimpse of the creation through the creator's eyes when He showed me this. It was truly an eye opening experience and I can definitely say I will never be the same. I got to see how He looked at and longs for His creation to be all that we can be and how His love for us goes so deep His heart aches for us.
So I guess the real question is what is in your box? I want to know.
That's the Opinion of His Minion
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