You know, I am having the honorable opportunity to chat with a spiritually brillant (and willing to be fully obedient) young woman — and she and I have been dialoguing through the  commandment to keep in check our CORE values.

You know them, and we read them in Titus and 2 Timothy too — where, as wise Christian women, we are told to honor our Spiritual, Spouse, Family and Home values ahead of anything else! Where we need to learn to choose to put our time, energy, thoughts and intention into that correct ORDER situation.

But just why and just what gets us off track in doing just this? It is always unhealthy (unholy!) MOTIVATION in our SOUL-situation — and usually an UNINTENTIONAL one too. 

Like, look at old me and my UNINTENTIONAL fear of FAILURE: the false need to be pretty, perfect, productive and to make a profit.

And all because I wanted to be seen (or NOT seen) in a certain way (and UNintentionally too, since I had no idea I was listening to those FEARS for YEARS actually, and actually had for YEARS felt “great” doing it).

And so, my BRAIN would “obey” the thoughts that I have to be “skinny” (by putting extra time into my exercise!), I have to be “busy” (by putting extra time into roles outside my home), I have to be “perfect” (by putting in extra time to get it all done and in all ways “right”) and I have to make a “profit” (by working beyond my capacity to be able to see a growing financial result at the end of the week).

And all this led me to?

IGNORE THOSE CORE VALUES.

And yet? There WAS a way out of this.

And, YES, it started with seeing that I had been UNintentionally believing those sticky and tricky “I have to and I can’t” FEAR-BASED LIES and choosing COURAGE to slowly untie them with an opposite ACTION item, until?? My brain NO longer believed them. 

And the “undoing” of those FEARS came true for me — and CAN for you.

Then YOU really CAN DISCOVER and DEVELOP and LOVE and DESIRE your 4 CORE VALUES!

But first, we need to allow GOD to clean up our HEART MOTIVES from FEAR. And then we can really see where we really need to put our thoughts, time and energy!! 

And do it — and not even feel GUILTY.

You know, recently I reread in Mark the story of the woman who “wasted” all that alabaster oil on Jesus’ feet — or so was the disciples’ interpretation. They challenged her (and Jesus too) that this was “wasteful” through and through, and that the perfume could have been sold and spent on what really mattered: ministry opportunities outside their core group.

And yet? JESUS challenged them right back when HE said, “I am here for only a little while; she has ‘spent’ her time, money, energy CORRECTLY, when she has spent that all on ME” (Mark 14:3-9).

And this is the same for us today, and where we spend our time and energy. We are not “wasting it,” as my brain used to say when I was with my little family. NO, we are in fact “pouring” our most precious commodity INTO our most precious community — the one that is only with us for this little moment. And by doing that? We ARE being obedient.

And God WILL bless you for it.

And so, go…. And go home…. And use your “alabaster OIL on things that will never SPOIL.” 

And I know GOD will begin to BLESS your SOUL, change your BRAIN, and build your HOME in ways you will never KNOW.

Take HIS truth — and let it empower and CHANGE you.

Love you through and through.

Carol 😉

“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands, the foolish one tears it down” (Proverbs 14:1).