Humility
Our greatness isn't being put in the spotlight,
but being more concerned about the inner light.
Mess vs. Message
Is your life devoted to your Mess or is your life devoted to your Message? According to all universal spiritual teachings, the difference between a person whose life is devoted to their Mess and a person whose life is devoted to their Message is that the former is more concerned about focusing on their problems (Mess) whereas the latter is more concerned about focusing on their solutions (Message).
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For example, if an architect wants to sail from India to America, he never focuses on the problem of the ocean (Mess) but only focuses on the solution of building a ship (Message). Similarly, if a wise man wants spiritual or material success in life, he never focuses on the ocean of negative persons, places, things and circumstances (Mess) but only focuses on the solution of building humility, appreciation, forgiveness and love (Message).
In fact, according to logic, qualities like humility, appreciation and forgiveness, for which all the great saints are famously known for, are qualities meant to be used, not when we don't have lots of problems, but when we do have lots of problems.
For example, a teenager will never tell his rich father, "My dear father, I forgive you for buying me a mercedes benz for my birthday, and I'll tolerate my 50 million dollar inheritance once I graduate from highschool." Rather, we tolerate and forgive people who don't give us love, honor and respect. Why? So that our peace of mind won't sink into pride, envy and vengeance.
Indeed, pride, envy and vengeance are like icebergs. Just as the captain of a ship realizes that he'll be unhappy if he steers into an iceberg, so also throughout the history of mankind, have you ever seen someone who looked happy if they steered toward the iceberg of pride, envy and vengeance? In other words, just as a captain steers away from icebergs, so also humility, appreciation and forgiveness are the qualities meant to steer us away from the icebergs of pride, envy and vengeance.
Therefore,
in his sermon entitled,
“The Secret Place”
Joel Osteen,
beautifully states:
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“Ships don’t sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. A ship can be in the ocean and have hundreds of miles of water in every direction. The waters can be cold, choppy, rough, big waves etc. Water around them is not a problem. But if that ship lets what’s on the outside get on the inside, then it’s a major problem, it sinks. In much the same way, we can’t stop what’s on the outside: opposition, offense, trouble, delays, traffic.These things are going to happen. The key is that don’t let what’s on the outside get in on the inside.”
“Proverbs says ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life.’ This is saying ‘Above everything protect your secret place.’ If you’re allowing everything in, what they said, what didn’t work out, the disappointment, the hurt, the pain, the stress, the traffic, then because your secret place is poisoned, it will impact everything about you: your attitude, your relationships, your joy, your vision. Out of your secret place flow the issues of life.”
“We all have negative things come against us. We can’t get away from that, but don’t bring it close to you. Quit giving it so much attention, re-living the hurt, thinking about the offense, dwelling on the disappointment. That doesn’t belong in your inner sanctuary. This is a very hollowed space. You have to keep your secret place consecrated, set apart. You’re very selective about what you allow in. If you don’t respect your secret place, if you don’t guard your inner sanctuary, then you’ll go through life offended, worried, upset, discouraged.”
“This is why many people have no joy, no peace, they’re always down. It’s not because they have more difficulties necessarily, it’s because they’re not protecting their secret place. Sometimes when people see you in peace, you’re always consistent, they think, ‘You must not have any problems. I wish I had your life, you should see what I’m dealing with.’ The truth is, we all face difficulties, we all have unfair situations. The difference is the people that are in peace, positive, hopeful,they’re not allowing what’s on the outside to come in on the inside, into their inner sanctuary.”
The conclusion is...
Controlling the ocean is outside our control, whereas building a ship is inside our control. Similarly, controlling the ocean of negativity is outside our control, whereas building character is inside our control. In other words, why waste our time in discussing things outside our control like the ocean of our problems (Mess) instead of utilizing our time in discussing things inside our control like the solution of building character (Message). Indeed, Jesus was crucified and still could forgive, whereas we're only crucified by words and still can't forgive. What this essentially means is that Jesus had an ocean of problems but made it seem like a drop. Why? Because he focused on things inside his control. On the other hand, we have a drop of problems but make it seem like an ocean. Why? Because we focus on things outside our control.
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Therefore, it is said:
Similarly,
consider the following
words of wisdom
regarding this subject matter as well:
