What Shapes You?

What or who shapes the way you relate to the men and women around you?

In living ALIVE . . .

What or who shapes the way you relate to the men and women around you?

What forms the way you act?

You?  Protecting yourself?  Isolating yourself?

Or is it human relational characteristics like humility?  Compassion?  A listening ear?

Or does your intellect inform the way you think and act?

Or is it past experiences?

Or present pressures?

Or some assumption in our hyper-political power culture that shapes your thinking and acting?

The thing is, daily, we are bombarded by so many shapers.

Identifying what or who forms us is vital for how we treat each other as men and women.

Whatever or whoever shapes us directly influences the possibility of moving away from power, suspicion, or arrogance to perhaps compassion, a healing conversation, or maybe even forgiveness.

For me, I’m shaped by my Christian faith.

Specifically, by the person of Jesus.

How He acts toward men and women.

How He treats them.

What He thinks about them.

Often when I read the Bible, I wonder what Jesus is thinking.  What does He see in the man or woman He’s talking to?

Does He scheme a way to use the person for His own agenda?  Or exert His power over them?

Is He angry that he/she may not think the way He does?  Or act the way He hopes?

In my experience, we often assume so much about the other person. I wonder why we don’t take the time to ask what they think, or in some cases, how they feel?

During this Holy Week, let’s return to the opening question: What or who shapes the way you relate to the men and women around you?

Perhaps take out a notepad or journal and jot down some ideas.