Shake It Off

As most of you know, I have a love for Taylor Swift and her music. She is clean, honest and respectful. This is not a shock to anyone, but today I tuned into her online announcement. Her song lyrics have been pretty spot on for things that have gone on in my life. Her newest song is about what you should do when someone does something to you. The song is called Shake it Off. As I was listening to it, it reminded me of some things we learn as a Christian.

Like me, I am sure that there have been many times when someone has done something awful to you. I was bullied, my sister was bullied. I learned as a child that good men can say awful things that can affect your life forever. The bottom line is, we live in a secular world full of hate and crime and loss. Yes, good things happen here, but we know that while we live here on this earth we have to live in this world. We ourselves have been guilty of hurting others too.

When someone hurts me, my first instinct is to fight back. If you make me mad, normally I have this urge to make you feel the hurt that you caused me. To be honest, that's how I get with a few of my siblings. I'd like to say that the devil made me do it, but I can't because as I said in another post, I was given a choice to make. My mom has always sat us down and told us that we should not retaliate because that's not what the Bible tells us to do. However, I let my hurt control my actions and I lash out.

Taylor Swift's new song is called "Shake it off". Its all about letting the cruel words of bullies roll off your shoulder. I am in no way saying that this song is a Christian song, but the message is similar to the one that we are taught in the Bible. Whether someone is spreading lies about you, or calling you names, we cannot act in anger. We are allowed to be upset but we fall into Satan's trap when we try to hurt the other person back. We are supposed to let it roll of our back and turn it over to God.

This is easier said than done. I am not perfect, nor will I ever be, because I was born a sinner. Someday each of us will face that fact at the gates of Heaven. I know that I am going to kick myself when I am standing in front of the Lord talking about all of the people that I have hurt over the years. We are no better than anyone else. I have this need for everyone to like me, and when they don't, I am ready to be done with them. I tend to make it known that they are not welcome in my life anymore, but that is beyond Un-Godly.

Things would be so much better, and so much more peaceful if I just let things go. So this week (lets take it a week at a time), when someone hurts you (its bound to happen we are all sinners), stop before you speak. Think about what it will do when you lash out. Remember that everything your feeling is horrible, and when we stand with God one day, are you ready to take responsibility for causing that same hurt. Well, I'm not. So here it goes this week. Do your best, and I'll do my best to just shake it off.