I am actually inspired to write this post based on what happened to my wife & I last Sunday.
Sunday worship service was awesome as pastor talked generally about new dimensions ( theme of the month of March ) & specifically about taking actions, stepping out by faith to realize our destiny and purpose. My wife & I were so blessed.
When the service was over, we filed out of the church singing and dancing with enough motivation to face the week, while on the stairs a lady behind us tripped and almost fell on my wife & I, but quickly gained her balance & slightly hit us. My wife looked back, smiled and said ” Are you OK?” out of concern for this lady to be sure she was fine. The lady responded angrily saying “what do you mean am I Ok? Is that what you are suppose to say? You ought to say sorry?” My wife said ” You are suppose to say sorry to me as you hit me while trying to regain your balance”. She frowned her face, mumbled something and walk off.
My wife & I just laughed and walk on to our car. Inside the car she just said, ” You know some people carry a lot of pain and hurt in their hearts, heavy baggages & just misinterpret what people say & mean. They go very defensive, always ready to dish out anger, insult, etc. Then a scripture came to my mind, Titus1:15 “To the pure, all things are pure”. The statement “Are you OK?” was a question to show concern as my wife was actually asking if she was fine (OK), but to her it meant WAR!!! More like are you crazy or something in that light.
I particularly love the Message translation of that verse, it says “Everything is clean to the clean-minded, nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers”
Our minds are central to the way we behave and react to issues & situations. I once read a book by Joyce Meyer called “The battlefield of the mind”. There is an ongoing battle for the control of our minds by God, the devil and ourselves. We must strive to align our minds with God, in-line with his Word and purpose for our lives. It’s not an easy task, but one that is rewarding, a mindset that is filled with the fruit of the spirit (Love) and all of its manifestations ( Joy, Peace, perseverance, etc).
So simply align your thoughts with God, win that battle for your mind & live a lovely & fantastic life that will clearly hear and discern what people are actually saying around you.
What are people saying? What are you hearing?
This is my snippet, I am SHALOMESQ.
Shalomesq Snippet 
The affinity of human mind to negativity is a great challenge and I believe daily renewing of our mind by scriptural principles is a great help to having positive mind. “guard your heart with all diligence……….”
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Hi Seyi
I agree with the caption.
The point I’d like to share is sometimes our environment and culture permeates our mind and refuses for us to see things from another perspective.
Since both you knew very well it was out of concern for the lady, you should let her know. We were more concerned about your well being and we are not fighting you. You know why? Nigerians are used to saying ‘sorry’ wether it is meant to be said or not.
ENGLISH is a big challenge and I’m almost certain that lady didn’t understand it that you were checking on her to know if she was ok. It’s the ‘war’ path that resonated with her when she did not get the sympathy she was expecting or thought she deserved.
Communication they say is two-way. We have a long way to go and we can only start by educating the few that cross our path.
I like you write ups. Keep it up!
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Many thanks Ireno, we tried to explain to her that the statement was about her wellbeing. I do agree with you that English is a big challenge for us as we misuse some words like “Sorry” for example. Appreciate you stopping by my blog and dropping your comments. God bless you Ma’am.
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Reblogged this on yemiadeniran's Blog and commented:
…. A lot of us have faulty “decoders” and that is why we need to renew our minds consciously, after the nature of Christ our Redeemer.
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Spot on Yemi, I love the decoder analogy. We must renew our minds on a regular basis. Thanks bro
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