DAY 1 - INSECURITY & JEALOUSY

Quote of the Day: "God forbid we miss the good in others because we are blinded by our own insecurities." - NW

It all started because they were insecure. They were jealous of him. Their father had made it no secret, the way he flaunted loving Joseph more than the rest of them. All the special treatment and the gifts, did he have to rub it in their faces?

Over time, what began as jealousy became a seething well of bitterness. Like the poison that it is, this bitterness led their minds to unspeakable things. A plan formed to murder him. Murder! Their own brother! How does it get to this place??

I want to first point out something that can be easily missed.

> Genesis 37:4 says, "They hated him and could not speak a kind word to him."

We see clearly in this story that Joseph is a man with a loyal & loving character. He had so many great qualities about him. So how is it that these brothers could see NOTHING good in him?

The truth is, they couldn't see past their own feelings of insecurity and jealousy. It blinded them. Joseph WAS a good man. Yet, without realizing it, everything he did and everything he was they saw through a tainted lens.

That's often how it begins for us. Just like these brothers, we don't realize the initial distortions of truth within our relationships.

It happens every day and the enemy loves to divide us as he plays on the areas we feel insecure. All too quickly we are hurt by a look, something someone did or didn't say. We assume reasons we aren't invited or responded to in that text. We judge motives behind an action, yet we know nothing of what’s going on behind the scenes.

This is how our view of others becomes twisted, slowly tearing apart friendships and families.

Can I be honest? This realization has messed me up. Yet all for the better. God revealed to me how easy it was to be blinded and misguided by interpreting what others did, based on how it made me feel.

In this moment, I had to take a good look at the relationships in my life and ask myself some hard questions. Do I see people in an honest and accurate way? Or, like Joseph's brothers, is "my reality," the way I view and interpret others...not actually reality?

You see, every horrible, heart-wrenching moment that followed....the painful journey Joseph would have to walk through, began right here. With insecurity and jealousy blinding the truth of reality and leading them down a path that only God could miraculously restore.

Don't let another second go by living with tainted lenses on your eyes. God forbid we miss the good in others because we are blinded by our own insecurities. Ask more questions, make less assumptions. Do you know what is going on in their life? Maybe what you are taking so personally has nothing at all to do with you....and if you only knew the surrounding circumstance it would change everything. 

So, ask. Give grace, and for goodness sakes let's clean off those dirty lenses that have been filtering our thoughts with anger, annoyance, envy and doubt. There IS good in them. There is also ALWAYS more to the picture than we see.

One last thing. 

Today, you may simply need to hear this. For anyone who has received the saving grace of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, we are called sons and daughters of the Most High God. So, no matter what family background you grew up in, how unsure and desperate you are for approval from your earthly parents, you NEVER have to be insecure in your Heavenly Father’s love. You are loved. You are chosen. You are seen by Him. That will never change.

For me, it was realizing this is where my security comes from that I finally found freedom.

FAITH – IN – ACTION

James 1:22 says we should be “Doers” of the Word and not only those that hear it. So, every day we’ll have an “Action Step” that helps us live out our faith in tangible ways.

DAY 1 - ACTION STEP:  

Reach out to someone that you have been "unsure" of in your life. Take the time to ask them questions and pray for clarity on how you’ve been seeing them. Then, do something kind for them.

Discussion Questions for Groups or Personal Reflection:

•  What insecurities have you been bringing into relationships?
•  Is there anyone you may have misjudged and possibly put barriers up so that interactions are more strained than they need to be?
•  Moving forward, how can you better approach the people in your life and those you have yet to meet, to allow the best shot at healthy relationships?
• After reading the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5-19-26, what “lenses” should we be seeing others through?