Receive things differently

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
                                                                                Romans 12:2.  NKJV

When things are coming at us right, left and centre; instead of giving into the injustice of it all, it's far better to turn the situation around. Instead of seeing them as negative, try to see them as positive. Instead of seeing chores and bad feelings, try to see them as blessings. In fact, be blessed instead of being robbed. Now this obviously is not easy to do. It takes practice, patience and perseverance.

It may help to look at a very basic form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Using this, one is helped to take control of their thoughts and look at the emotions it causes. They can then look for a better outcome to the situation.

In basic CBT, we have, a Situation, an Emotion, an Automatic thought, a Rational response and an Outcome.  Let us look at an example very briefly:

SITUATION
This may be the pain of seeing someone promoted into a job that you thought was yours.
EMOTION
You may be hurt, jealous and very angry because of this.
AUTOMATIC THOUGHT
'I hate that person, they always do better than me. I'm always left on the sidelines.'

From here, a person can throw a wobbly and cause a major scene, even putting their own job at risk. They may even walk out, telling everyone what they think of them
Therefore, we need to adjust our thinking somewhat:

RATIONAL RESPONSE
*  'I have a choice here. I can leave and find a better job.'
*  'Does the person realise the amount of responsibility that they're taking on? They won't cope'
*   Congratulate the person (I know it sucks) but do it anyway - genuinely, and offer to help 
     them in anyway you can.

OUTCOME
Relative peace and the knowledge you've done it God's way

We need to train ourselves to think differently. Doing things the way Jesus would do them, is not always easy. We want to rant and rave and moan and groan at some people - Jesus blesses them.
Hating a person because they have done better than us, is not the way forward and it shows the state of the heart. We need to rectify this - immediately!

What issues or problems are you facing at this time? Together with prayer, Romans 12:2 and this basic form of CBT, which is basically in tune with this scripture, try to forge a better way forward. The way Jesus would go. This CBT formula can be adapted to whatever you may be facing.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com