What are YOU Full Of?
So…what are YOU full of? Have you ever stopped to think about it? Well, if not – let’s just take a few minutes and ponder the question. What am I full of? Are you full of yourself? I bet your first response would be, "no". We assume that if we are full of ourselves that means we are braggadocios and arrogant – full of self-confidence. But that is not always the case. We may be full of ourselves if our problems are always bigger than everyone else’s problems. We talk about ourselves and all that is happening in our life – even when no one has asked. We excuse ourselves from our responsibilities because we have a crisis. Those are certainly red flags. So…just to be sure we are not one of “those” people, let’s take some precautionary measures. John 3:30 says and oh, this is so good…
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
What does that mean? That means that if our thoughts, our feelings, our desires are all centered on ourselves – we are wrong. We need to decrease and allow God to increase in our lives. It should be less about me and more about Him. Think about it. If we are focused on our problem – we are full of self. If we are focused on trusting God to walk us through our problem – we are full of faith. If we talk with, think with and react with our feelings – we are full of self. If our desires are self-driven without any consideration for God’s will in our lives – again, you got it – we are full of self.
Are you full of fear? We all have fears and insecurities. But…does your fear paralyze you or are you choosing to step out of your comfort zone and let God stretch you to go for your dreams and to fulfill your God given purpose? Do you let fear (Satan’s great tool) hold you back? Do you let fear keep your world small? Do you let fear give you a free license to procrastinate, avoid, delay, ignore and forget? God says “Do not fear” over and over in the Bible. So, I am pretty sure He means it. Instead, we should be full of what? Faith! What is faith? Faith is confidence and trust. Faith is believing in God and all that He has promised – replacing our fear with His truth. We should pursue God’s purpose for our life, using the talents and strengths God has given us. Just these two promises should help us cast out fear…
“I will be strong and courageous. I will not be terrified or discouraged for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go.” Joshua 1:9
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
Are you full of pride? Hmm…you may be thinking that being full of pride is a lot like being full of yourself. But, what I am talking about here is the refusal to see our own faults or inadequacies. And guess what? We ALL have them. So…if you are reading this and thinking…”no, I am good. I can’t think of any faults”…you my friend are full of pride. I encourage you to do yourself a favor and spend some time doing some self-examination. Times where we are honest about ourselves, what we believe, how we act, and who we are – are often painful. But we can’t change things we don’t acknowledge, right? So just the fact that you are reading this tells me that you desire to grow and be what God is calling you to be. But, we need help. A great tool is the book of Proverbs. God has taken this book of the Bible and filled it with encouragement, wisdom, and guidelines to live a successful spirit-filled life. We just need to apply it. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs - one for each day of the month.
Let’s all grow and change. Ya want to? I certainly do! Sometimes it is hard because we have been full of the wrong things for a long time. Our actions and reactions have become habits and patterns in our life. But today is a great day to stop all the nonsense and decide that we are going to let Jesus fill us up! Wouldn’t it be fun if someone were to say to us, “Wow! It is obvious that you are full of Jesus!” Yes it would! So, how do we become full of Jesus, full of hope, full of truth, full of wisdom, full of faith? Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT) says,
“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”
Let’s do it! Let’s put off our old patterns and ways of dealing with life and put on some new ones. We wear our self, our fear and our pride like shields, don’t we? They keep us from having a healthy relationship with others and with God. Let’s lay it down. No longer focused on our self, our fear and our pride, but focused on Jesus and His patterns of love and acceptance, confidence and trust, and – lastly, vulnerability and truth. Jesus, today and everyday fill us up with YOU!