Excuse me. Can I give you a tip?

I was at the gym this morning. Doing my normal thing. Lifting some weights. Admiring my muscles in the mirror. When a very buff man came up to me and asked if he could give me a tip on lifting the weights I was lifting.

I pulled out my ear buds and said, “Sure. I guess.” In a not very nice tone.

You see ... I don’t like to be corrected. It hurts my feelings.

So I let him show me what to do. Turns out it was a good tip ... I just didn’t want to hear it. I was embarrassed. I seriously almost cried after he walked away.

I had to sit there for a minute and think about why in the WORLD I get so upset when people correct me. I stayed a little mad about it for a couple of hours.

I should probably back up and say that I woke up, happy and content, at 5:00am this morning. I knew at that moment that the Lord wanted to tell me something so I got on up and did my thing ... which lead to the gym ... and the correction ... and the hurt feelings. Turns out he DID want to teach me something ... and I don’t think it was just the correct way to lift those 10 lb weights (Although I bet that if I lift the weights correctly now I’ll probably end up so buff. Watch out.)

There’s something He’s trying to teach me about how HE corrects me and how I feel about it. I think more than not when I am doing something that might not be a sin ... but might not be the best thing for me ... and He corrects me about it, I get upset and stay mad for a little while. Then out of spite I go back to doing things the way I was doing them before because it feels better and I feel like I know best. Which I don't ... let's me honest.

I need to realize that I am being corrected for my own good. The nice man at the gym just wanted to help me reach my goal. God wants to see his plan come to life in my life. He wants to see me have the best and be the best and if I don’t listen to Him and follow His correction who knows where I’ll end up. Probably in the same place. Stuck with the same weights in my hands making no progress.

 So ... there’s that. He’s still working on me ... to make me what I ought to be.