Shining at work can be painful
Say, for instance, all people have the same amount of light at normality, be it how we work, our efficiency and so forth. Some people have a rheostat. They are able to turn up their brightness...work very well and shine greatly. Some people don't have that ability or don't want to use it. They, instead, gain their higher brightness by darkening the brightness of others. That way they shine brighter; they are the ones in the lime lite; they are the Golden Child, so to speak. They love this. They love being praised and adored by everyone. They want people to think of them as outstanding. But if someone else tries to shine, they are immediately angry. They will take offense at anyone who might naturally outshine them. "How dare anyone try to be anything!" "That takes away from ME!" They will excuse their anger and actually find it in themselves to justify harm to another person as though they were doing some kind of evil and righteously deserved to be punished...for daring to be as bright as them...at a normal setting. They can actually tell themselves they are safe in God's sight; that God probably is with them in harming or punishing the other person. Either that or they just don't think about God and allow Satan to bolster their ego and self righteousness....allow them to continue to feel good and positive about themselves.
It isn't a bad thing to want to shine brightly, provided it isn't done by tearing someone else down or in an evil way or for evil purposes. To want to shine to please the boss because of a love for the Lord of life, who says for us to give our whole hearts to what we do; who says to work
for our bosses...those over us... as though working for him, isn't a bad thing. These people and probably all unbelievers twist this kind of work or shining in their minds as a kiss-up and something being done against them. That's basically the same spirit of the Devil. It is what Cain did.
Cain killed his brother, Able, because Able humbly, with no malice against Cain or any desire to show him up, presented a loving sacrifice to his boss, our God; our Lord. When the Lord showed approval toward Able, this made Cain very jealous and angry. Cain wanted that approval all for himself, without actually deserving it. Cain twisted the good sacrifice of Able in his mind as though Able were doing it all against him and with an evil purpose. But all Cain ended up doing was harming an innocent and being condemned for it.
The reason Cain did this was because he didn't have faith; he rejected the faith the Lord tries to work in us all. Cain preferred himself to others and probably rideculed and belittled any
attempt to move him to a loving and faithful state with common words that are prevalent in our society like: "That idiot", "there's something wrong with him" or snickering in embarrassment and looking at each other, rolling eyes. They prefer the "self" to others. They prefer machisimo or ego or sinful pride to eternal life in heaven.The faith that makes us see ourselves for how we truly are and cries out to God for mercy for being as evil as we are. The faith that puts our hope in Christ and causes us to love him and want to do what he wants, which is to love each other and help each other stand up and shine; to "wash each other's feet". I think it is worded: "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love".
Say, for instance, all people have the same amount of light at normality, be it how we work, our efficiency and so forth. Some people have a rheostat. They are able to turn up their brightness...work very well and shine greatly. Some people don't have that ability or don't want to use it. They, instead, gain their higher brightness by darkening the brightness of others. That way they shine brighter; they are the ones in the lime lite; they are the Golden Child, so to speak. They love this. They love being praised and adored by everyone. They want people to think of them as outstanding. But if someone else tries to shine, they are immediately angry. They will take offense at anyone who might naturally outshine them. "How dare anyone try to be anything!" "That takes away from ME!" They will excuse their anger and actually find it in themselves to justify harm to another person as though they were doing some kind of evil and righteously deserved to be punished...for daring to be as bright as them...at a normal setting. They can actually tell themselves they are safe in God's sight; that God probably is with them in harming or punishing the other person. Either that or they just don't think about God and allow Satan to bolster their ego and self righteousness....allow them to continue to feel good and positive about themselves.
It isn't a bad thing to want to shine brightly, provided it isn't done by tearing someone else down or in an evil way or for evil purposes. To want to shine to please the boss because of a love for the Lord of life, who says for us to give our whole hearts to what we do; who says to work
for our bosses...those over us... as though working for him, isn't a bad thing. These people and probably all unbelievers twist this kind of work or shining in their minds as a kiss-up and something being done against them. That's basically the same spirit of the Devil. It is what Cain did.
Cain killed his brother, Able, because Able humbly, with no malice against Cain or any desire to show him up, presented a loving sacrifice to his boss, our God; our Lord. When the Lord showed approval toward Able, this made Cain very jealous and angry. Cain wanted that approval all for himself, without actually deserving it. Cain twisted the good sacrifice of Able in his mind as though Able were doing it all against him and with an evil purpose. But all Cain ended up doing was harming an innocent and being condemned for it.
The reason Cain did this was because he didn't have faith; he rejected the faith the Lord tries to work in us all. Cain preferred himself to others and probably rideculed and belittled any
attempt to move him to a loving and faithful state with common words that are prevalent in our society like: "That idiot", "there's something wrong with him" or snickering in embarrassment and looking at each other, rolling eyes. They prefer the "self" to others. They prefer machisimo or ego or sinful pride to eternal life in heaven.The faith that makes us see ourselves for how we truly are and cries out to God for mercy for being as evil as we are. The faith that puts our hope in Christ and causes us to love him and want to do what he wants, which is to love each other and help each other stand up and shine; to "wash each other's feet". I think it is worded: "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love".
There is barely civilization here...j/k. But it did take nearly forever just to get DSL available here. I'd figure out something though. I did try to make amends with my neighbor. I asked her if I had done anything to offend her but she hasn't gotten back to me.