I went to a great conference this past weekend on Discipliship.  It was amazing.  I had the chance to be discipled  by Kay Arthur and several other incredible, God - Loving women for a day and a half.  I also got to spend great time with four other great friends.  I felt like a sponge that was beyond saturated.  It was amazing.  I would like to spend several blogs talking about all that I learned from these women however, today I am going to just touch on something that has really been on my heart lately.

I am a spoiled, wretched, lazy woman.  I am opinionated and passionate.  I spend a lot of time getting irritated because people do not do things the way I think they should be done, the way I know they should be done.  I get frustrated with my children, I get irritated with my husband, I get annoyed with my friends & aquaintences.  It has come to my attention lately, though, that all though I have been blessed by all these relationships in my life, my interaction with them has NOTHING to do with them.  It has to do with me and really not about me but with me and JESUS.  I do not want to say that Jesus does not care about how other people treat me (because I am sure that He desires for them to be kind, patient, loving gentle....) but I am going to say that I do believe that Jesus does not care how people treat me in context of how I treat them in return.

Got that?  Because I am not sure if I do. I am not sure if I am even typing that correctly... I will give some examples.

Jesus does NOT CARE how people treat me in context with how I treat them in return.  Jesus does not care if someone does not show up to an event I planned - what He cares about is that I respond in the Spirit (ie the FRUIT... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control).  I cannot find "smarting off about the importance of MY time" on that list.

Jesus does not care if my children run wild through the house, stopping up toilets and breaking down banisters - what He cares about is that I spend each day writing the Word of God on their hearts (and I cannot find screaming at them until the neighbor comes over to check on us - okay, THAT has never happened - anywhere in Deuteronomy). 

Jesus does not care that my husband decided that vacuuming out his car was more important than bathing the little ones even though I asked him to bathe the little ones - what He cares about is that I treat my husband with respect (and I have TRIED to find appropriate eye rolling and sighing SOMEWHERE in the Bible but have yet to come up with a verse).  

What matters is MY relationship with Jesus.  Am I glorifying Him in everything I do?  Am I honoring Him and the incredible sacrifice He made for me in the way I respond to people?  As I type this, it sounds a little self-focused - it is not about others, it is about me - but really, it is completely the opposite.  IT IS NOT ABOUT ME AT ALL.  When I choose to respond to anger, irritation, frustration- I am making it ALL ABOUT ME.  I have been wronged I I feel the need to let EVERYONE know about it.  When I stop and allow the Holy Spirit to fill me, when I step aside and let the Spirit respond, it is about Jesus.  It is about what HE deserves from us because of what he endured for us. 

I used to laugh at all that "WWJD" stuff everywhere but really, now, I am realizing that is exactly what I should think about before I EVER open my mouth.  What WOULD Jesus do right now?  Would he making a quipy snipe?  Would He lash out in anger?  Would He roll his eyes?  Probably not.  And let's be honest, when we look at what we have been saved from, it is clear to see - it IS all about Jesus.