John 16:15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you!
The families of Iryna Zarutska & Charlie Kirk are all in our prayers.
‘My’ heart is literally broken. I have never been so affected by the screen before. About ready to flush my phone down the toilet. This ‘me’ and ‘mine’ stuff wearies my soul. ‘Mine’ is a selfish word. The kid losing his baseball (the picture above that defines this century, Iryna Zarutska & Charlie Kirk all are victims of this age of ‘mine’, or better put, selfishness. ‘My’ pride was hurt, Iryana (the white girl) called me a name. His politics were different than ‘mine’. Selfish to the point of lethal.
All of these incidents above have the same cause, the word (mindset) ‘mine’ or selfishness. This mindset causes evil and is not Biblical for Christians to have. These three cases are perfect examples of the ugliness of the word ‘mine’. The first was over a baseball at the Phillies game. Although I am not interested in pro-sports any longer, this story sucked me in. It kind of reminds me of the dreaded piñatas down here. They bring out ugly selfishness in all of us. This candy is ‘mine’. Every time, the guy that grabs the most candy isn’t the nicest kid in day to day life. One time, one kid grabbed the whole piñata and ran home with it! Talk about a bad case of ‘mine’! The home run balls at stadiums remind me of piñatas. ‘MINE!’
Although there are many good ways to use the words ‘mine’, I can’t think of them, except “what’s ‘mine ‘ is yours’ (truthfully), ‘my’ prayer, ‘my’ good wishes, ’my’ God, ‘my’ friend, and ‘my’ Lord. The old expression “What’s ‘mine’ is yours” usually is a fib . That’s the way Christians should use the word ‘mine’, but even among Christians, it’s not really true.
People often use the word ‘mine’ as an offensive weapon. If they say ‘my’, or ‘mine’, it’s usually setting up boundaries. Sure, you don’t want dangerous people harming your kids or home, but this concept of possession usually goes ways too far. A person who is very territorial will never be hospitable.
1 Peter 4:9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
A couple said they were called to minister to crack heads in their home to live. They invited me over to their house. Specifically for my opinion. (I really really try not to give unsolicited advice, but I’m not very successful at it). We ate, then she served coffee. Due to bad past experiences, I kind of get edgy sitting at one place too long. I got up and said, let’s sit in your living room! It was nice. They both panicked. “Noooo!!” They yelled. “That carpet cost 20,000 dollars, those couches cost 10,000 and the antique coffee table is worth at least 5k” (I had already set my coffee saucer on it, oops). We went into another room, without my coffee of course. There was some beautiful stuff. Eclectic taste, and I said ‘oh wow, is that a Ming Dynasty vase?? My uncle collected them. They said ‘Yes! Don’t touch it!!’
When they shared their vision of having crack addicts, who were saved, stay with them, they asked me what I thought, I said ‘you DO know that they are going to take all your stuff right?’ Their ‘mine’ mindset had to go before they could joyfully obey the Lord. I was on pins and needles the whole time and couldn’t wait to leave.
Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing
Did you ever see Nemo, when he was stranded on a dock, flopping around? All the seagulls surrounded him saying ‘mine’, ‘mine’, ‘mine’. It’s funny, but strikes too close to home.
‘Mine’ is a favorite word of the world, and unfortunately of the church. Pastors preach to the congregation ‘God loves a joyful giver’. Often they aren’t very joyful when they give. If you are looking at your budget when you give, you are not giving joyfully. Do you give out of your own pocket or out of the church’s budget?
Christians often quote “God first and ‘my’ family second “ as if it were Biblical. It’s simply not true. If you disagree with that, prove to me that in the Bible. Sure you have to love, cherish, provide and protect your family, but ‘God first’ is the only priority. I am a full time caregiver, I get it, but I am not territorial. ‘God first’ only. ‘My’ devotional time means ‘don’t you dare interrupt me when I am in ‘my’ devotions! ‘’My’ sabbath day (?) means DO NOT CALL ME THAT DAY! (As if anyone can keep track of ‘my’ day off.)
I worked with a guy that really got offended when I scheduled a meeting on ‘veterans day’. The funny thing was, he said it was ‘his’ holiday, yet he wasn’t even a veteran!
‘My’ is a very offensive word (In ‘my’ opinion), coming from a Christians. I’m always kind of shocked when I hear it in a mean, territorial way, from the lips of a believer. I try very hard to live “what’s ‘mine’ is yours”. We as a ministry do as well. I’d like to be more generous, but I can’t. When you realize it’s all a gift from God, it definitely helps.
Acts 2:44-45 (KJV):
“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need”
THE 4 THINGS CHARLIE TAUGHT ME:
- Pay more attention to politics. It IS a privilege and Christian duty.
- Commies tend to kill whoever beats them in an argument (should have known so after personal military experiences and a century of history)
- How to cry. Never cried in my life that I could remember, never ever. Felt good. Not even as a baby. I remember faking it as a toddler to get my bottle, other than that, I just got angry. Cried for Charlie though this week, a lot. And his poor dad wrecked me again today.
- Just because the person you talk to is an immature, mentally ill, screaming idiot, you can still talk nicely to them instead of just walking away.