When we actively relate to people as rivals or enemies, we foster the false belief that we and they stand independent of one another. The truth is that we bind ourselves to them as if by an invisible tether, and we do so by our negative thoughts and feelings." "Who we are is who we are with others. How they seem to us is a revelation of ourselves.
Some things are only real because they represent what we think. When we learn the truth and think it, the old reality is no longer real to us and loses its hold on us. The truth sets us free.
There is a vast difference between living according to one's idea of what it is to be good, and actually being that way.
I too have learned this in my experiences with the Spirit of God. Every situation can be redeemed and turned into exactly the preparation we require for a fullness of joy-to the extent of ourfaith in Christ's redemptive power. To that extent, the very circumstances we may have cursed will turn out to be our schooling for salvation.
Did I love what I was doing, or did I love myself in doing it?
For to the extent that we act toward others as we feel we might, we open ourselves to their inner reality, and their needs and aspirations seem so important to us as our own. We hope their hopes will be fulfilled and need to see their needs satisfied. Their happiness makes us happy, and we are pained to see them hurt. We resonate with them and delight in their prosperity.
