THE TREACHERY OF INSECURITY - Michelle McKinney Hammond

And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. - GENESIS 4:8

When we don’t resolve our issues with God, someone will get hurt. An issue about acceptable offerings that was between Cain and God mushroomed into an entirely unexpected end. Cain killed his brother. He decided to eliminate what he thought was standing between him and a blessing instead of dealing with the real cause—himself. How often do we do that?
Our insecurity causes us to hurt someone else’s feelings through sarcasm, insult, or action. We’re insensitive to the needs of another because we’re too steeped in our own pain. We magnify and personalize little things into imagined offenses and strike out, at times harming people who had nothing to do with our core issues.

We may not be killing people physically, but we maim them. With our attitudes, a glance, a word, we can inflict deep wounds that we often fail to see. We leave people bleeding in our wakes. And all the while God is observing how we’re handling situations. It grieves Him when we don’t control our wills by asking for His help and submitting to Him. A life under the Spirit of God doesn’t do anything to grieve the heart of God. A life under God thrives and manifests His love to others.

What negative attitudes have you allowed to go unchecked? What areas of your life do you need to submit to God?

PRAY THIS PRAYER WITH ME:
“Dear heavenly Father, I long to be a vessel that only gives life. Put to death anything in me that hinders me in serving and representing You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”