When Jason and I first got married I had a very long list of things for him to work on. Yes, he had things about him that were not perfect as well, and I knew how to find those faults for sure. During one trip over Monarch Pass, I was laying out everything that I was unhappy with about him and how I was feeling unfulfilled in the relationship. Instead of getting defensive and giving up on me, because really, who can fix everything right away anyways. He asked me to point to the biggest thing that stood out to me. What was the number one thing that I needed from him? After quite a while of trying to narrow my biggest objections down to one I was able to see my biggest wounding from him. He then focused on this one issue and miraculously everything else faded away.
We do this in every situation we find ourselves in. We have a list of things that need worked on. When the list is long we can feel overwhelmed and that is when failure takes hold. "How can I accomplish everything?" But in everything it all boils down to not one, but two main topics. In these two things, if we really look at these two issues, we really can find all the answers to our everyday life healed.
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29)
If we can wrap our mind around this, life is smoother. We can learn to truthfully do our best in our job, our home, with others we come in contact with. If we truly love God, then we won't be able to turn a blind eye on what we think others can't see, for we will always be aware that someone can always see. We won't keep our doors in life closed in order to hide our messiness. If we truly love others, we will be thinking of them in what they need in order for them to live more fully in their environment. If we love ourselves, then we will always be truthful to ourselves about what we do that is good and what we can do better. This one answer in life can help us live more fully and if we can grasp this then we may not be so overburdened by such a long list we think we must overcome. What is it about that long list that we think we must get it all done? There is always a simple issue at it core. Can we see it?
