Focus On Yourself

Here’s a fun story.

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. In the morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the laundry outside. “That laundry is not very clean”, she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her laundry to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see nice clean laundry on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.”

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows”.

Lesson: If our windows are dirty, we see things as dirty. What we see is a reflection of our inner-selves! What we see when watching others depends on the cleanliness and purity of the window through which we look.

[12:53] “I do not claim innocence for myself.

The self is an advocate of vice, except for those who have attained mercy from my Lord. My Lord is Forgiver, Most Merciful.” This verse informs us that we are incompetent, because without God’s mercy, our self was created to promote sin. This helps explain why being a human is so difficult, and also why we have to work so hard.

[90:4] We created the human being to work hard (to redeem himself).  

[76:3] We showed him the two paths, then, he is either appreciative, or unappreciative.

This is my war, fighting with myself. I fight everyday battling myself to not commit sins, battling myself to remember God’s blessings, and battling myself to be appreciative.

[14:34] And He gives you all kinds of things that you implore Him for. If you count GOD’s blessings, you can never encompass them. Indeed, the human being is transgressing, unappreciative.

I know it is difficult to be appreciative and positive all the time. God does let me know however, that even if I filled 99% of my time being appreciative of God’s blessings, I would still miss being appreciative of some of the blessings He provides me with.

[30:30] Therefore, you shall devote yourself to the religion of strict monotheism. Such is the natural instinct placed into the people by GOD. Such creation of GOD will never change. This is the perfect religion, but most people do not know.

On one hand, 12:53 teaches that the self was created as an advocate of vice. On the other hand, 30:30 teaches us we have a natural instinct to worship God alone. It seems we were created with both the nature to sin and the nature to worship God. My life on this earth is a test and it will show which one is going to win.

There are times when someone will say something that bothers or upsets me. I start thinking to myself, someone should do something about this. Which part of this next verse am I forgetting?

[4:126] To GOD belongs everything in the heavens and the earth. GOD is in full control of all things.

Thank You, God, for this knowledge.

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