Good morning, you guys!!

So, I have been brewing and stewing on this blog for a while and, well, let’s jump right into what I call the “NO Knee-Jerk Reaction” Response!

Say what??

Say YAH! 🙂

Well, I look back, and in so many “seasons and stages” of my life, when I was all about the “hustle and the hurry,” including in my responses and reactions to the things that came along in my day…. Why would that be?? Likely because there is an unspoken concept in our culture that the faster you are at responding to things, the more PRODUCTIVE and BETTER you must be!

Like even with my kids. For the longest time, whenever they had an issue or an argument, WHO was I to “have to” sit there and really listen to all that they had to say?? I mean, I can oh-so-clearly SEE what the end response and results should BE and so, let’s just “skip the details of the deed” and get right to the end RESULTS (which, by the way, I will choose for all of you, thank you very much and let’s just move along quickly, please)!

Yeah, when you only “go with your gut” and live off “quick, fast and in a hurry,” do you know what you usually end up in??

A big old pile of POO! 🙂

So sad, but so true…. So just what are the “right” things to do??

Well, likely you have been getting that I have been getting how every word has a “BEST” way to be defined. And it is NOT to think, “Hmmm, how would I describe the definition?” Or even “How would my mother describe the definition?” Or “How would ANY OTHER person describe the definition?” But, rather (yes, wild of wilds!!),”How would GOD describe the definition?”

Because, if I say I CHOOSE my worldview all based on HIS WORD, then I better take a good long look at how HE “looks” at things, and so, HIS style and solution for us?

NO Knee-Jerk Reactions.

And just what and WHY do I say that?

Well, let’s take a quick peek at one of our favourite New Testament Disciples — good ol’ Peter. I love him! He was such a passionate, impactful and purposeful man. But some of that PASSION? Well, it led him right down the road to DISASTER, which, if you take on GOD’S definition of what DISASTER really is, you will see it may be totally different from what YOU and I would say…. Any guesses what it might be? Well, how DISASTER is defined by GOD is this:

• To be straight up Separated from HIM (Jeremiah 18:17b, 19:3-5, 25:32, 26:3b).

And so, from the outside, some of Peter’s Knee-Jerk Reactions look oh-so-obviously BAD. (We all kinda know about the big “oops and error” when he betrayed Jesus in the garden 3 times — take a peek at John 18:15-26.) 

But what about this OTHER Knee-Jerk Reaction we read earlier in verse 10 when, oh, Peter was hot and ready to defend his Holy Man (chapter and verse) only to have Jesus say, “Whoa! Slow down, CALM down, ‘cause THAT is a reaction which may seem correct to your head, but it won’t BE in your heart.”

And so, instead of being commended, he got corrected, and it was all based on what, where and WHY he was ACTING out (this case, being based in ANGER). Which, by the way, we just are not supposed to live in. (So many verses speak to this!! And for those who struggle with anger issues, I would like to dialogue with you, as I just MAY have been there, a time for two.) 🙂

And, well, if there are to be NO Knee-Jerk Reactions, just what IS the skill we should be striving for? If I am going to take OUT a negative response, just what could be the replacement action to fill that space? Because that is how it works. If something moves out, something else needs to move in. But rather than just let ANY old thing or person or emotion pop into the hole, I want to be PROACTIVE and POSITIVELY CHOOSE a NEW GODLY GROWTH GOAL.

And so, you know what I have been working on working into that space?

Well?? THAT will be revealed … in tomorrow’s post!! LOL! But for now, here are some questions I have for you:

1. Do you see any “KNEE-Jerk Reactions” in yourself? If so, in what area? How do you feel about them? How do you feel while you are doing them? AFTER you have done them? And will you do them with anyone, or just certain people? 

2. DO we have control over how we react? Or is that just part of our personality, with no choice up to “me”? Why or why not?

3. If you could change one thing about yourself and your reactions, what would it be … and why? If the person closest to you in your life could change one thing about your reactions, what do you think it would be? And why?

And lastly, the closer-question, if GOD could change one thing about your reactions, what would it be? And why?

THANKS for thinking this through — and can’t wait to read a posting from you!! See you on the INTENTIONAL IMPACT Team.

Carol 🙂