At the very end of a book called 1 Timothy, located in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the author Paul says to Timothy, "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you...." (1 Tim. 6:20a ESV)
This one line of text has been spinning around in my mind for the last few days. It's made me ask the question, "What has been entrusted to me? What have been given to me as a deposit?" The obvious answers are my family, my talents and gifts, my money. As I thought more deeply I thought maybe it's my life experiences. Maybe it's my deepest hurts. Maybe it's the places where I feel most inadequate and would like to hide those from people. But those are weird things to call investments. The dark places and deep hurts seem more like things I want to get rid of than things I want to hold on to. Don't they?
Yes and no.
Let's start with the obvious investments we make. I invest into my kids. I counsel them, I buy food and teach them how to make healthy food choices. I also teach them how to have fun and when to be serious. I invest time with them. I expose them to cultures and entertainment. I do the same thing with my spouse and other close relationships. I take time for them. I invest in them. It's a sort of emotional interest earnings situation. Of course I want to spend energy guarding and securing these deposits I've been given.
When I think about the pain I've experienced, I don't want to go there. I don't want to take time investing energy into something that's going to be hurtful to me. Because if I take that time to shore up that deposit into my life, it's going to take energy from somewhere else. And that doesn't seem like a sound investment to make. I know that investing in positive things like my family and friends is going to reap good rewards. What good can come from investing emotional energy into the wounds of my past?
Here's a secret. If you don't take the time to tend the investment of pain into your life, you're going to be spending ALL OF YOUR emotional currency on hiding from the pain anyways. So you're going to be robbed of the energy to tend your other deposits.
Taking the time and space to tend to the painful deposits in our life has as rich a reward as tending the joyful deposits. It is tending the painful places that we find the healing and peace we need to be fully present in our relationships. In the weeding out of our emotional baggage, we unpack the truths that bring life to ourselves.
When I can share my painful deposits with others I'm also sharing hope. When I can offer the truths I've learned in the dark places, I'm offering someone else light into theirs. I believe we do not receive pain just because the world is a cruel place. I believe we receive pain so we can help others thru theirs. So we can share our experiences with one another and offer each other freedom and a light to guide us to a more fulfilling life.
Tend your investments well. The good and the bad. May you find joy in the dividends.
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Yes and no.
Let's start with the obvious investments we make. I invest into my kids. I counsel them, I buy food and teach them how to make healthy food choices. I also teach them how to have fun and when to be serious. I invest time with them. I expose them to cultures and entertainment. I do the same thing with my spouse and other close relationships. I take time for them. I invest in them. It's a sort of emotional interest earnings situation. Of course I want to spend energy guarding and securing these deposits I've been given.
When I think about the pain I've experienced, I don't want to go there. I don't want to take time investing energy into something that's going to be hurtful to me. Because if I take that time to shore up that deposit into my life, it's going to take energy from somewhere else. And that doesn't seem like a sound investment to make. I know that investing in positive things like my family and friends is going to reap good rewards. What good can come from investing emotional energy into the wounds of my past?
 |
| image from https://fineartamerica.com/featured/emotional-blocks-paulo-zerbato.html |
Here's a secret. If you don't take the time to tend the investment of pain into your life, you're going to be spending ALL OF YOUR emotional currency on hiding from the pain anyways. So you're going to be robbed of the energy to tend your other deposits.
Taking the time and space to tend to the painful deposits in our life has as rich a reward as tending the joyful deposits. It is tending the painful places that we find the healing and peace we need to be fully present in our relationships. In the weeding out of our emotional baggage, we unpack the truths that bring life to ourselves.
When I can share my painful deposits with others I'm also sharing hope. When I can offer the truths I've learned in the dark places, I'm offering someone else light into theirs. I believe we do not receive pain just because the world is a cruel place. I believe we receive pain so we can help others thru theirs. So we can share our experiences with one another and offer each other freedom and a light to guide us to a more fulfilling life.
Tend your investments well. The good and the bad. May you find joy in the dividends.
 |
| image from gettyimages |
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