It's All a Choice...
I must say that last week a pretty good week, I didn’t go out too much nor did I feel like I stayed home too much and had nothing to do. Things went quite well and there wasn’t anything that really upset me at all last week, in fact I felt great. But, there were a couple of things on my mind last week about life, my life, bitterness and about friendships. It sounds pretty much like this post is going to be a heavy one with the three things that I’ve mentioned that were on my mind last week that I would like to share in this post, but that’s not really it. I feel coming from a couple of good weeks gone by, it is more on a positive note that I’m sharing my thought from last week. It is about my new found understanding and insight into a world I haven’t really explored deeply. Also, it is about my passion to not just live ordinarily but to live my life in a full way. I know it seem like forever that I keep going off about living life to the full and about finding friendship, but these are the core few things that are so close to my heart and there is just so much to learn from life experiences about living life and relationships. And, I know I’ve come a long way in reaching a greater understanding of these ideals, so I’m just looking at these things from an improved perspective, about how I can continue to live my life in an even broader and greater sense, and to reach out farther to others beyond my small social circle. So, it is in the light of that progress and as I look positively to the future that I say these things…
Before I go into all that, here’s an overview of my week last week. I went out on Monday to HortPark and West Coast Park, had my chess lesson on Tuesday, rested on Wednesday, went out to Changi Beach Park on Thursday and checked out Ion Orchard again on Friday, this time from the underground link from Taka to Ion and from the basement up. And, on Saturday I was at East Coast in the late afternoon. Sunday, of course was church and there was some surprising news about youth class, and that is that we will be joining the young adult’s coz their teachers decided to stop teaching the class.
But, as to how last week went, West Coast Park was pleasant but not big, my chess lesson was ok, Changi Beach was not bad, caught some nice sea breeze. And, Ion Orchard was cool, I mean the underground link. But, we got caught in the rain at East Coast on Saturday, which surprisingly was interesting coz this is one of the rare occasions that I encountered having to watch as we waited for the rain to stop. In the end, there was no sign of the rain stopping so my dad had to run through the rain to get the car to get us back, coz as you know it rained island-wide on Saturday from late afternoon to almost 8pm or longer.
Since we’re at this juncture, I shall get into my thoughts about last week beginning with my afternoon at East Coast on Saturday. Well, apart from the raining, at the early part when I was strolling along with my parents at East Coast, there were these huge numbers of inconsiderate people cycling on the footpaths, and like on several occasions they nearly knocked into people. I was pretty angry that there were so many people doing that, sure I know it is a very common thing but I just find it very inconsiderate. I took a dig at some people cycling on the paths, not that they cared that I was lamenting about their inconsiderate act. However, it made me question myself, was I being a bitter person by getting upset over some peoples’ apparently inconsiderate act and telling them off? I mean, no one likes a bitter person who complains about everything, I was fearful that maybe this is something that has stumbled me in the area of making friends. But, then again, what was the right course of action, ignore the fact that there were cyclist coming out from nowhere on to the walking path such that we had to dive away from these inconsiderate cyclist or if not what should I have done? And, mind you, this is within a park not like on the road or something. The first thing that came to my mind was something mentioned in church about not confronting a person who has done wrong in a fit of anger but to point out the wrong in love. I guess, maybe I was too quick to get angry about the inconsiderate acts that were being committed. But, in this particular case, it would even make sense to try telling the people off about this, even if I was calmer, coz they wouldn’t care anyway. My mum’s advice was to live and let live and she said something on the lines of we can’t change the whole world…and if I would finish that with the fact that we can make a difference by being the change. But, I still believe just because we can’t change the whole world we can just let it go. Logically, I guess the right course of action was not to act on it in that instant but to let them be coz really there was nothing I could do, and it would only serve to make everyone feel upset by getting worked up about it.
However, I decided to look into what the Bible says about this in a broader sense, and I also looked up a section of the Purpose Driven Life. To begin with, I looked at it from the perspective of the Body of Christ in the PDL, that is in restoring broken relationships, I guess it is similar in that it is about someone doing a wrong to someone and in fact the next day after this incident there was an incident of a family member who treated me in a way that hurt me. So this was relevant…The course of action to deal with it, is to talk to the person, take initiative, sympathize, confess, cooperate, seek a solution and emphasize reconciliation. This is more for disagreements with each other, but I guess what we can take out of this is that instead of reacting angrily, we should confront a person in a way that is not in any way out of compulsion, but in the spirit of correcting someone or working things out.
And, in being tempted to be bitter here are the relevant verses from the Bible…
Hebrews 12:14
14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Ephesians 4:30-32
30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Psalms 4:4
In your anger do not sin;
The Bible states clearly here that we to be careful not to sin in our anger, as in also this case when someone has wronged you, and we must work to keep the peace and forgive one another. In fact, when others sin against us we are asked to forgive them, more than we are to criticize their actions. So we should not condone a wrong but we should first forgive then point out the wrong, if we are certain they are in the wrong. The amazing thing is that two of the memory verses and messages at church are taken from two the verses here that have been relevant to my experiences last week Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 are the two verses and both are about forgiving one another.
Below are verses regarding when others sin against us:
Matthew 6:14-15 (New International Version)
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Colossians 3:12-14 (New International Version)
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
And, when we are tempted to bitter, we can trust that ultimately God will judge and punish the bad.
Psalms 73:17-18
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
Therefore, I say it’s a choice that we have to let ourselves be bitter over the wrongs of others, or to forgive, not be angry but to point out and let God be the ultimate judge. Ok, it sounds a bit extreme for a small inconsiderate act but I guess this is in a broader sense about the wrong in this world. For me personally, I think I have to work on not being bitter, wherever a wrong is committed but to act in love and understanding.
Now then, to my main thoughts that I had throughout the week in regards to my life. Well, I don’t have a lot to say about this, but I must stress that it is the most important thing concerning me in my life now. And, the thing I feel is that really there is some much potential for my life and life itself, there is a whole life out there waiting to be lived, if only I will go out there and embrace it. But, here I am while others are out there trying hard to seize this opportunity and maximize the potential for life, either sitting at home or just going out occasionally to the park or mall. I’m by no means suggesting that a life lived to the fullest is about making the most out of life, but is about simplifying it and minimizing the things we do to focus on our purpose in life that is to live for God’s glory. But, it means filling our lives with things and activities contributing to this goal of pointing to God’s glory. And, I feel like I’m not doing enough in my life, to really achieve that sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Of course to be honest there is the other side of me that wants to really enjoy my life more and to make the most out of my life in doing the things I want to do. I just want to have a life, and not feel like I have nothing fun or meaningful to do, as much as I know it is about doing everything for God’s glory regardless of what it is. Seeing all the stuff that’s been going on in other peoples’ lives, make me feel like I’m doing so little with my life. And, I mean, I’m being careful that it is not about being jealous and competing with other people, but more that I really have a passion and desire to do more with my life. That is really all I want just to do more with my life, and I know next year when I start school again, I have one area in my life that is purposeful. Although, this week I can’t of felt like perhaps I wanted to do architecture instead of product design, but I feel yea product design is still my no.1 passion and realistically I’m going to stick to my plan of doing PD in poly. Just want to ensure my life is also fulfilling outside of just my education. So yea want to continue to live life to the full in a greater way. I guess, perhaps it is a choice we can make to live our lives to the fullest…
Finally, somewhere in the week there was one person who continued to try to chat me up, and made me ask myself a thought provoking question, which to me was profound. I mean the question sounds simple enough, can/could we turn down a persons’ genuine desire for friendship? It was on both ends that I’ve experienced this before, in this case someone was trying to be my friend, and in the other, I was trying to be friends with someone. I appeared offline to avoid the person chatting me up, which is what I know some people have done to me. I know it sounds straight forward that like of course it’s a person’s personal choice. But, I mean, doesn’t it sound the least bit harsh and could it even be a prejudice? Aren’t we to have relationship to one another and to love one another? I guess, we can’t be friends with the whole world and inevitably some people form closer friends with others. And, sometimes as harsh as it is, it is a fact that there are some odd ones out, who are sidelined due to them being different, a kind of prejudice. But, not everyone is with prejudice and they just happen to click better with others that’s all, nothing personal. But, that isn’t really is it for anyone, I mean, I believe somewhere out there, there is always someone willing to be friend, even if not others. So I guess, the fact that it is a choice still remains…
To end, it’s all a choice, in life and in everything, but ultimately God is sovereign and knows what our choices will be. We should trust that He knows what is best for us and in Him we can make the right choices to live for God’s glory, which will enable us to live full lives and reach out to others.
Before I go into all that, here’s an overview of my week last week. I went out on Monday to HortPark and West Coast Park, had my chess lesson on Tuesday, rested on Wednesday, went out to Changi Beach Park on Thursday and checked out Ion Orchard again on Friday, this time from the underground link from Taka to Ion and from the basement up. And, on Saturday I was at East Coast in the late afternoon. Sunday, of course was church and there was some surprising news about youth class, and that is that we will be joining the young adult’s coz their teachers decided to stop teaching the class.
But, as to how last week went, West Coast Park was pleasant but not big, my chess lesson was ok, Changi Beach was not bad, caught some nice sea breeze. And, Ion Orchard was cool, I mean the underground link. But, we got caught in the rain at East Coast on Saturday, which surprisingly was interesting coz this is one of the rare occasions that I encountered having to watch as we waited for the rain to stop. In the end, there was no sign of the rain stopping so my dad had to run through the rain to get the car to get us back, coz as you know it rained island-wide on Saturday from late afternoon to almost 8pm or longer.
Since we’re at this juncture, I shall get into my thoughts about last week beginning with my afternoon at East Coast on Saturday. Well, apart from the raining, at the early part when I was strolling along with my parents at East Coast, there were these huge numbers of inconsiderate people cycling on the footpaths, and like on several occasions they nearly knocked into people. I was pretty angry that there were so many people doing that, sure I know it is a very common thing but I just find it very inconsiderate. I took a dig at some people cycling on the paths, not that they cared that I was lamenting about their inconsiderate act. However, it made me question myself, was I being a bitter person by getting upset over some peoples’ apparently inconsiderate act and telling them off? I mean, no one likes a bitter person who complains about everything, I was fearful that maybe this is something that has stumbled me in the area of making friends. But, then again, what was the right course of action, ignore the fact that there were cyclist coming out from nowhere on to the walking path such that we had to dive away from these inconsiderate cyclist or if not what should I have done? And, mind you, this is within a park not like on the road or something. The first thing that came to my mind was something mentioned in church about not confronting a person who has done wrong in a fit of anger but to point out the wrong in love. I guess, maybe I was too quick to get angry about the inconsiderate acts that were being committed. But, in this particular case, it would even make sense to try telling the people off about this, even if I was calmer, coz they wouldn’t care anyway. My mum’s advice was to live and let live and she said something on the lines of we can’t change the whole world…and if I would finish that with the fact that we can make a difference by being the change. But, I still believe just because we can’t change the whole world we can just let it go. Logically, I guess the right course of action was not to act on it in that instant but to let them be coz really there was nothing I could do, and it would only serve to make everyone feel upset by getting worked up about it.
However, I decided to look into what the Bible says about this in a broader sense, and I also looked up a section of the Purpose Driven Life. To begin with, I looked at it from the perspective of the Body of Christ in the PDL, that is in restoring broken relationships, I guess it is similar in that it is about someone doing a wrong to someone and in fact the next day after this incident there was an incident of a family member who treated me in a way that hurt me. So this was relevant…The course of action to deal with it, is to talk to the person, take initiative, sympathize, confess, cooperate, seek a solution and emphasize reconciliation. This is more for disagreements with each other, but I guess what we can take out of this is that instead of reacting angrily, we should confront a person in a way that is not in any way out of compulsion, but in the spirit of correcting someone or working things out.
And, in being tempted to be bitter here are the relevant verses from the Bible…
Hebrews 12:14
14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Ephesians 4:30-32
30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Psalms 4:4
In your anger do not sin;
The Bible states clearly here that we to be careful not to sin in our anger, as in also this case when someone has wronged you, and we must work to keep the peace and forgive one another. In fact, when others sin against us we are asked to forgive them, more than we are to criticize their actions. So we should not condone a wrong but we should first forgive then point out the wrong, if we are certain they are in the wrong. The amazing thing is that two of the memory verses and messages at church are taken from two the verses here that have been relevant to my experiences last week Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 are the two verses and both are about forgiving one another.
Below are verses regarding when others sin against us:
Matthew 6:14-15 (New International Version)
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Colossians 3:12-14 (New International Version)
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
And, when we are tempted to bitter, we can trust that ultimately God will judge and punish the bad.
Psalms 73:17-18
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
Therefore, I say it’s a choice that we have to let ourselves be bitter over the wrongs of others, or to forgive, not be angry but to point out and let God be the ultimate judge. Ok, it sounds a bit extreme for a small inconsiderate act but I guess this is in a broader sense about the wrong in this world. For me personally, I think I have to work on not being bitter, wherever a wrong is committed but to act in love and understanding.
Now then, to my main thoughts that I had throughout the week in regards to my life. Well, I don’t have a lot to say about this, but I must stress that it is the most important thing concerning me in my life now. And, the thing I feel is that really there is some much potential for my life and life itself, there is a whole life out there waiting to be lived, if only I will go out there and embrace it. But, here I am while others are out there trying hard to seize this opportunity and maximize the potential for life, either sitting at home or just going out occasionally to the park or mall. I’m by no means suggesting that a life lived to the fullest is about making the most out of life, but is about simplifying it and minimizing the things we do to focus on our purpose in life that is to live for God’s glory. But, it means filling our lives with things and activities contributing to this goal of pointing to God’s glory. And, I feel like I’m not doing enough in my life, to really achieve that sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Of course to be honest there is the other side of me that wants to really enjoy my life more and to make the most out of my life in doing the things I want to do. I just want to have a life, and not feel like I have nothing fun or meaningful to do, as much as I know it is about doing everything for God’s glory regardless of what it is. Seeing all the stuff that’s been going on in other peoples’ lives, make me feel like I’m doing so little with my life. And, I mean, I’m being careful that it is not about being jealous and competing with other people, but more that I really have a passion and desire to do more with my life. That is really all I want just to do more with my life, and I know next year when I start school again, I have one area in my life that is purposeful. Although, this week I can’t of felt like perhaps I wanted to do architecture instead of product design, but I feel yea product design is still my no.1 passion and realistically I’m going to stick to my plan of doing PD in poly. Just want to ensure my life is also fulfilling outside of just my education. So yea want to continue to live life to the full in a greater way. I guess, perhaps it is a choice we can make to live our lives to the fullest…
Finally, somewhere in the week there was one person who continued to try to chat me up, and made me ask myself a thought provoking question, which to me was profound. I mean the question sounds simple enough, can/could we turn down a persons’ genuine desire for friendship? It was on both ends that I’ve experienced this before, in this case someone was trying to be my friend, and in the other, I was trying to be friends with someone. I appeared offline to avoid the person chatting me up, which is what I know some people have done to me. I know it sounds straight forward that like of course it’s a person’s personal choice. But, I mean, doesn’t it sound the least bit harsh and could it even be a prejudice? Aren’t we to have relationship to one another and to love one another? I guess, we can’t be friends with the whole world and inevitably some people form closer friends with others. And, sometimes as harsh as it is, it is a fact that there are some odd ones out, who are sidelined due to them being different, a kind of prejudice. But, not everyone is with prejudice and they just happen to click better with others that’s all, nothing personal. But, that isn’t really is it for anyone, I mean, I believe somewhere out there, there is always someone willing to be friend, even if not others. So I guess, the fact that it is a choice still remains…
To end, it’s all a choice, in life and in everything, but ultimately God is sovereign and knows what our choices will be. We should trust that He knows what is best for us and in Him we can make the right choices to live for God’s glory, which will enable us to live full lives and reach out to others.
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