Be the CHANGE you want to see

Hello ppl.. here i am to bore you to death with my thoughts AGAIN..haha

"Be the change you want to see" .. what a cliche ! Some of us are so cynical that we are blinded to see the simple truth expressed by many cliches that we use daily. I first came across this phrase when I started receiving occasional e-mails from Valerie (the girl who co-ordinates Encounter Weekends). My first reaction was to 'pooh-pooh' it.. how typical of me to make decisions like that without thinking about it. I had many doubts whether that would actually work in the REAL world, coz we're not living in a perfect world, we live in a world where even if you extend kindness and goodness to others , you can still expect some negative responses. You can never be sure if other ppl will ever "co-operate with you" to spread goodness in this world.

After a while, as I became more frustrated with life, I decided to give it a shot. If I wished other people would be less calculative with me, I began to be less calculative with them. It doesn't matter if others dirty the kitchen, I can still clean it up ...though it's not my responsibility and i had to sacrifice some of my personal time, i feel it's really worth it..to do something that will bring a change to my surrounding.

Most of the time, we know that this principle works but we're still unwilling to do it because it requires us to take the initiative, to give in first, to sacrifice time , or money or effort; though we don't need to. Many of us like to lament about the pathetic condition of the world, so many uncaring people walking around, each minding their own business, inconsiderate people , injustice etc. Come on, stop asking and waiting for the world to change....Start with the man/woman in the mirror. Yeah, it's YOU that I'm talking about!

Recently, i realised something.. the person who coined this phrase might have been a Christian. Because Jesus became the change He wanted to see. God was saddened and angry to see His beloved creation going astray.. forsaking the love of God and commiting so many sins. Being a just God, He had every right to punish us, to give us what we deserved but Jesus wanted to see love restored in this world. So, He chose to humble Himself, came in the name of love, and died on the cross for us. Did He deserve death? He had done nothing wrong, in fact, He is God! I'm always amazed at the way God came down to our level, and suffered to bring us back to Him. He came , not for the justice He deserved, but for the ones that He loved. Jesus brought the solution by loving us first, no matter what our response to Him would be.

What do you want in all problematic situations? A solution or justice for yourself? If the solution requires you to humble yourself and identify with the one who did wrong, would you still choose to resolve the problem? Many of us, out of pride and the desire to see justice done, have forsaken the path to reconciliation.

In fact, many of us live with unforgiveness and unresolved conflict because we hold on so tightly to the right to be right (pardon the pun!). You have every right to refuse to forgive someone when they do you wrong, but if by letting go of your right to be angry, you can reconcile with that person, would you humble yourself? Do you desire reconciliation more than anything else? Don't lie to yourself and say that you desire peace in life if you cannot forgive someone else. Above all things, strive to reconcile and be at peace and unity with each other.

Alright, it's difficult to achieve that by our own strength but remember, we have one perfect example to follow. Jesus Christ came as a man to show us what it means to live in the perfect will of God. He's da MAN(~borrowing Pam's quote) to follow!