We are powerful!

If you guys are like me, then I am sure you  have heard the various and compelling sermons about how we are powerful as Christians and creations of God. Don't get me wrong; that is true! However, I kind of glazed over that for a long time without giving it much thought. I always confined the concept to martial situations where two forces were fighting against each other. 

Recently, God has been showing me about how much power we have over people we are not fighting against also. For me, I think about my closest relationships which would be with my parents, my sister, and a couple of really great girlfriends. It is with these people that I share my closest secrets and my deepest pains. It is also with these people that I can feel the most intense swings of emotion. I can be the most intensely happy or the most intensely angry. It is because I allow them into the deepest circles of who I consider to be myself. I let down my guard when I am with them. It is this vulnerability that makes the relationship so special. 

However, it is when these defenses are down we are most receptive to either encouraging love or agonizing attack. We give others this power over us. The kicker is when others decide to give such a beautiful gift to us. How do we handle such a delicate offering. We have been given the power to build up or tear down their very being.

I have ashamedly caught myself in a foul mood pressing my little sister's buttons because in some despicable, sadistic way it salved my ego to know I had that power. It is an ugly thing to admit upon realizing the selfishness I am capable of harboring. How can I mistreat such power given freely and trustingly? 

So, I have come to great conviction, though not frequent enough to save me from my destructive words and actions, that I must respect others and love them because I have been given a great gift first from God and secondly from my loved ones. 

We are powerful in so many ways and we must use them in ways that are glorifying to the Lord.