“Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.”-Proverbs 27:17 ESV
In the past several months, I have felt my life has been under a magnifying glass. I’ve gotten a deeper look at myself, those around me, my surroundings, my process and at my life as a whole. I’ve been able to see things from a different perspective, I’ve been able to notice things I hadn’t noticed before. I cannot lie, as much as I would like to write about positive findings, all that I’ve seen are negatives on top of negatives. I was overwhelmed with the amount of work that needed to be done. I didn’t know where and how to start. I was left feeling very depressed. I started seeking God a whole lot more and in a different way. I started realizing the depth of His promises for me. They were more than promises for me, they were plans for my life and even for the life of others.
That’s when a hunger for change began. I wanted my lifestyle and myself as a person to start reflecting what God wanted for me. I realized that it all had to start with me. Any change I wanted to make to my surroundings, my family, anything in my life… it had to begin within. I had to change first, so that everything else around me can change too. I’m talking about every aspect of myself. My mentality, my spiritual life, my eating habits, my bad habits, everything. If I longed for a true change, a shift in a situation, I had to make it real, from the core. The first thing I felt that was important to tackle was my motivation. Wanting a change isn’t enough, you have to be motivated enough to get up and begin to do the work.
“Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.”-Proverbs 14:7 ESV
I started noticing how important it was to evaluate the people around me. I realized that it mattered to me, not only what I say to myself, but also what others say to me as well. Those people that I consider important and vital. I learned that it is super important to monitor what is being spoken into me because, while a lot of people have good intentions, not always everything they may say is in my best interest. Then, there are those you have around us who don’t have the best intentions for us either, whether consciously or subconsciously. It’s pretty much self-explicatory that you end up suffering from these interactions due to the toxicity in them. Therefore, I started to evaluate who was saying what.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.“
-1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV
First and foremost, God’s word is the ultimate source to listen to, there is no doubt about that. But, building community, friendships and rich relationships is so vital in our christian walk that you can’t take this part lightly. I longed for strong, flourishing relationships that were Christ-centered and that ultimately led me towards my goal. That I can receive and pour into these individuals and that we may encourage each other and that we may strive together towards our individual godly purposes. I found that while I have a lot of christian family and friends, not only was that connection for accountability absent, but I also didn’t have that understanding and will to seek and allow such accountability, reason why it might have been absent. Then I began to question: What does accountability for me look like? How can I create this type of relationship with someone? Does this happen over time or are there people out there ready for all of this?
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”-Proverbs 27:6 ESV
For me, this became my first big assignment. Building my community, creating my tribe, finding my iron. I figured my first step would have to be to have a clear vision as far as what my goals and godly purposes were. What are the promises God has for me? What plans has He revealed to me so far? What are the steps I need to take to get there? What does God say about me? How does He see me? Knowing the answers to these questions (and a couple more) would become my guide and filter to be able to identify what and who was healthy for me and what I should learn to filter and/or tune out.
While this pruning process is still in the works, I have learned that this process is very individual. Titles don’t matter, age doesn’t matter, whether it’s a blood relative or a total stranger. God will use anyone to build you and speak to you. Some of those people will be permanent in your community and others may just pass by. The important thing is to pass them through the filter to see if they are your iron for you to sharpen yourself against. If they are, be open to it. Sometimes it hurts, fewer times it may feel just right, but it will always speak to those goals and that godly purpose within you.
•Krys• 