Chain Reactions

Everything we do has a consequence!

Hence the result of our action can be quantified. Every action as an equal and opposite reaction, so the effect can be weighed (Newton’s Third Law). Everything we do has an outcome, and that result differs depending upon the situation, i.e., that little white lie may not have an immediate effect, but it could start a chain reaction to a result you never thought about. (You now have to remember the lie, instead of the truth, and who did you share it with!)

Results can be defined as “consequences, effect, or outcome”.

I was listening to a psychologist (I think) in an interview as everyone continues to express their feelings about the recent election. Social Media is rampant with attacks, negativity and falsehoods. People learn that it is easy to spread their venom from the cloak of their internet connection, and then struggle to express themselves when they come face to face with a person. We even learn to simply present a subject without checking the facts for ourselves. (www.Snopes.com is a popular fact-checking site if you can trust them.)

Some call it the Lemming Effect – It’s the crowd following the crowd. Many are closet ex-pressers and lose their ability to dialogue or reason in person, and they seldom post an original thought and simply re-post from wherever their source is derived. How many times do you see people re-post someone else’s thoughts, photos or postings – and they seldom…SELDOM…write something of their own. Repeaters are not original thinkers, but what they re-post is often a symptom of how they think. Original thinkers LEARN how to express themselves individually, and they often have something cogent to share.

Our news reporting sites are merely leading the way, it would seem. They want to shape opinion instead of stating facts and allowing those at the trough to make up their own minds!

As I flip through my various feeds, and yes, this includes the news feeds, I find it distressing to see not one single original thought!

Thinking they are “sharing,” their feed feels like driving down a highway with too many billboards! Be thankful if you live in an area that does not allow their existence! You never know what they will advertise next!

This is almost like the blind leading the blind (Luke 6:39, Matthew 15:14). They cannot see for themselves, so they simply follow someone else, and since they cannot see that the one they are following, they seldom realize how blind that person is themselves!

Perhaps this is why we see street protesters turn violent. Among them are some with a different agenda, simply waiting for the opportunity to “Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War“. They are the instigators and hoping to see their results show up on national media. They’ve won! They got the masses to follow their lead. And the blind end up following…well. You know. Here comes the ditch!

I am guilty… of over organizing my Social Media feeds and treating them as a communication tool, but weeding much of it into the Junk folder mindset. Remember that folder? In my email system, I am forever writing rules to funnel unwelcomed emails to the folder that will become trash! Modern email tools let me unsubscribe and delete all email in my Inbox that may come from an unwelcomed, or no longer interesting, source.

I may keep you as a connection, but I may never read your material unless you send me a personal message – like the old snail-mail and email days! Social platforms change the rules all the time, so I have to constantly adjust my world so I do not miss the folks important to me.

So. If you are apart of the modern problem of simply reposting, then our paths will seldom cross. If you are a true communicator, I do not have to like your message and if we can have a dialogue about it, then we are okay.

Self-Control! I love it!

This brings me to my concept of results… You are often the product of what you ingest. You know, it’s the chain reaction of what you’ve started, and the results will essentially reflect your input. Bad food. Bad results. Good food. Good results. You can apply this logic to other things also – habits, thoughts, actions, even who you hang out with. To a Christian, there are certain things we do to bring ourselves under Spiritual Control. We cultivate better thoughts, habits, focus… hence, I hope, we have better actions.

The Apostle Paul writes about living and walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) and teaches us that there is an offspring of our Spirituality. He called it Fruit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:22-25 NKJV)

This is a message of Godly living that dictates laws on how we live and converse with this sinful world. Scripture is full of examples of those who lost their way, but regained their Spiritualness and returned to the Fruit walk. Others did not.

Notice the first Fruit is Love. Love does not mean acceptance. I cannot love sin, as sin is going against God’s laws. In fact, a rule of scripture speaks of saving the lost person but hating their garment spotted with the fleshly desires of the world! (Jude 1:23) When we give in to our fleshly desires then we are walking away from the Tree that produces Godly Fruit.

Do not love the world or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
(1 John 2:15-17 NKJV)

In fact, you can find these three problems with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden… Go ahead. Check it out. (Genesis 3:6) This has been the forever problem of humans! Temptation. Lost focus. It can even come to those in paradise!

Immediately following this discourse, John begins to talk about those that are anti-Christ. Go ahead. Read the remainder of the chapter. He tells us that those who are against Christ are not to be followed. A result of following those who are against Christ leads you farther from the True Vine (John 15:1) and if you are not a Fruit Bearer then you will be pruned as a non-producer.

That’s a Result. Can you see the ending of your Chain Reaction? Are you producing good fruit?

I want to be a Fruit Producer! That’s a Result I can live with…