Prayerfully Fix Ourselves First
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Our contemporary society honors social justice issues and those who take the time and energy to work for the benefit of others, especially those in greatest need. The challenge is how to do so with dignity and civility. Unfortunately, our society has become more abusive with Facebook, TikTok, and other social media sites allowing verbal and written statements without challenge or accountability. This abuse often speaks to threats to another’s beliefs but sometimes becomes emotional and physical threats. In our current environment, we must reflect on our emotional health and motivation before attempting to “fix” everyone else.
I was taken by the title of the article, “Fix Yourself Before You Fix The World,” by Bayu Dewanto, who warns his readers and society “that it is much easier to criticize the imperfections of the world than to look for our own shortcomings to fix to justify that agony.” Dewanto challenges us to “fix yourself first.” None of us are perfect examples of emotional maturity, and questioning motivations before being critical of another is a valuable action that we should act on regularly.
The question becomes, how do we fix ourselves? According to Dewanto, “Fixing yourself means that we don’t justify the faults of the world for our own shame.” Instead, we overcome shame by taking responsibility each time it is appropriate. Adding to the complexity is that guilt is not an all-or-nothing activity. It takes emotional maturity to consider the multiplicity of motivations and considerations behind our emotions and values.
Today, prayerfully practice reviewing your feelings on controversial issues. Next, continue your prayer as you determine which, if any, challenges you acted on by speaking out in such a way that others heard your response. Next, ask, “what motivated my passion? Was the response appropriate for the situation and the audience? Did I make my statements in response to my faith? Did my statement have the opportunity for a positive outcome?” Honestly, answering these questions prayerfully is a good start on the path to fixing oneself first. If enough people make this commitment, threats against others will diminish.