Our Life is a Message.

This statement hit me hard, REALLY hard. I thought to myself, my life a message? WOW, if my life is a message, what message am I sending with my life? And who am I sending a message to? I really need to look closely at this and I’m thinking it’s NOT going to look pretty. Here we go…….

What is a message? I leave voice mail messages several times a day and little messages to people via email, text, or a little note/message for my son in his daily planner for school, “have a GREAT day, I love you! Love, Mom”, but I’m thinking that a life message is different.

I had to look this one up in a dictionary – I am grateful for the one (dictionary) I downloaded on my itouch, it made it simple for me to get the definition quickly. Here’s what it said:

Message 1. A communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled. Semantic Words: content, subject matter, substance

Usually brief. A communication written, spoken, signaled – USUALLY BRIEF? If the messages are usually brief, this doesn’t give me much wiggle room to screw up as I interact with people in my daily interactions; I screw up ALL the time!! What if I’m having a bad day? What if I’m grumpy? I can pretty much guarantee my life message has looked pretty nasty to some people. God forgive me.

I’ve got only a brief moment to show my life message. I like this; but I don’t because I’m already feeling sick to my stomach thinking about the many “icky” messages I’ve sent with the way that I’ve lived my life in the past. A lot of these messages were unspoken, shown by my actions and how I lived. Yeah, I’ve sent some pretty horrible messages….Gross, I am NOT proud!

Who am I? What’s MY content? Subject matter? Substance? I’ve been struggling with these questions for several years now…….what’s my purpose?

I know my life message is different today than it was a year ago and I pray that as I continue to grow my purpose becomes clearer. I am challenged by the statement, our life is a message, and I want to keep this in the forefront of my mind. Unfortunately I cannot go back and change many of the bad messages that I’ve “displayed”, I can only choose today to display a better message. I desire that my life message will bear the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.