Have you ever collected anything in your lifetime? For those
of you who know me well, you can attest to the fact that I’ve had some very
interesting/strange collections throughout my childhood. My mother collects
nutcrackers, and sets them up around Christmas.. she literally has like 500.
She also collects elephants, which I’m still not sure if it has to do with our family’s
political preference or if she just likes them; but point being made by this is
that collections are usually something that we admire; enough to put on
display.
On the divergent, have you ever had a bad collection? Have
you ever collected opinions? Have you ever collected grudges? This is a
completely different kind of collection that every single person has whether
they are aware of it or not.
Picture that one person, who has an impressive capability of
causing you severe irritation; that person that always manages to piss you off.
Or that person that is always rude to you, when you are completely undeserving
of it. The fact you might be able to put a name or face to this description
proves that you have or have had a bad collection.
Subconsciously we tend to notice their faults, and then we
collect them. We think to ourselves, “I don’t like her, because she can never keep
a promise. She also never paid me back that one time. She always shows up late
to everything.” We make lists in our minds, opinionated collections, or grudge
collections that really won’t improve the relationship with this person at all.
So why do we do it? What about all of the good things that person has done? Do
we make a list of those? What about all of the times that we, ourselves, were
late, or lied to someone about something little? Do we make a list of those
too?
Sometimes we idolize our negative collections so much that
we have no desire to throw them away. We don’t know how to start a collection
of the good things this person has to offer, because we are so busy labeling
them with negativity, thinking that there is no hope in them changing. But what
if the next time you saw this particular person, you greeted them with a brand
new list; a list waiting to be filled with positive things. Would it kill you
so much to give them a compliment? People usually have this natural way of
being nice to people who are nice to them. It’s easy to be nice to people who
reciprocate the kind gesture. It is not easy, however, to be nice to those who
don’t. But what if we show them love anyway, don’t you think we can influence
them to do the same to others? Sometimes the people you like the least are the
people that God wants you to work with the most.
Another common collection is a collection of our own faults.
Sometimes we tend to hold on so tightly to all of our past errors and failures
that they start to accumulate, leaving no space for the potential we have for
positive achievements. And that accumulation of junk is called hoarding, people
– never healthy. Every once in a while, we need a spring cleaning to get rid of
all those dusty collections that aren’t useful, and go for something new; something
admirable. It is important to be aware of our wrong doings, but not to dwell on
them – only to learn from them, and not repeat them.
When people collect things, they usually put them on
display. It is important to present yourself in a Christ-like manner. A loving
way that is contagious. Put your kindness on display; put your love on display.
God has given us different gifts and talents to be used for His glory. Put all
of those things that you know you are good at out there, to be a positive
impact on those that need them. Many
people have good collections inside of them that they aren’t even aware of;
even those people that you can’t see a hint of positivity in, and maybe it’s
your job to point them out to trigger that person to put theirs on display,
too.
A lot of this is just me thinking out loud, but being on the
world race, I have come across thousands of new people. Each month there is a
load of new people. Sometimes the most amazing people I’ve ever met, and others
that shut me down before I have a chance to tell them my name. But I have come
to find that sometimes giving up on those people is the worst thing I could do.
Everyone needs Jesus J
