Worthy of Your EAR

One of the definitions of worthy is deserving effort, attention, or respect.

Read that again.

One more time.

I'm guessing you have a person or situation coming to your mind.

When I read that, I thought of all the times I gave my EAR (effort, attention, and respect) to undeserving things and people.

I think about all the times I worried and ruminated over a situation, thinking the worst and feeling all the stress I could muster, only for things to work out just fine.

How much time and energy could have been saved if I had prayed, trusted God to work it out, and then focused on other things!

Or what about the HOURS I spent focused on those coworkers that drove me crazy or the people in my life that hurt or disappointed me?  

I gave them so much space in my mind, spending oodles of time coiled up in anger and resentment as I laid out various if-then scenes while I showered in the morning.

I gave those people way more attention than they deserved. I could have chosen to pray for them and shifted my focus to those I cared about or respected.

That would have been a much better use of my time.

We spend so much time obsessing about things unworthy of our effort, attention, or respect

We exhaust ourselves, focusing on what doesn't matter and miss out on the beauty of what does.

So, as I prepare for the day and hop in the shower (do people really hop in there? Sounds dangerous to me), I will set my thoughts and intentions on what is worthy.

I want to think about how God has saved me and worked things out. I want to think about how He has strengthened me through the hard times and provided wisdom to maneuver and resolve difficult situations.

I want to pray for my family, ask God to care for them, help me not to manipulate or control things, and increase my ability to trust that everything will be okay.

I want to express my gratitude to all my great friends who love and challenge me, pray for their blessings, and ensure that I care for them as best I can.

I want to care for my mind, body, and soul and give them my utmost attention to ensure I am being kind to myself.

I want to think about how I can help and support others when they need someone to care for them. I want to keep my eyes open for opportunities to serve and help.

I will leave you with this question:

What is worthy of your EAR (effort, attention, respect) today?

Philippians 4: 8-9

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Colossians 3:2

Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.