I Have Been...The Weakest Link...How About You??

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
-Psalm 100

Have you ever heard of that expression "You are only as strong as your weakest link?" I have found that to be very true in ministry, but more recently I have related it to personal character. I began to think about how I am really only as strong as the weakest part of my character. Past struggles with insecurity...That one character flaw that if not dealt with sticks out like a sore thumb to those around and overshadows many of personal strong points. It causes one to react to those around them in hurtful ways and lose the respect of those that once looked up to that person.
This Psalm refers to us as the sheep of the Lord's pasture. The Shepherd leads his sheep only because he wants to keep them safe. He prevents them from wandering away and keeps them within boundaries so they won't wander off into the wilderness alone. I don't want to be the sheep that is unwilling to listen to the voice of my shepherd. It is prideful to think that he doesn't know best and want the best for me, even when I don't understand why. We can choose to keep our one little thing that we can't seem to give up...but to those around us it will eventually stick out like a piece of spinach wedged between a perfect set of teeth. And we all know it takes a true friend to say, "Honey, you have a little something right there." We should listen to those around us and to our shepherd and examine the things in our life that we have been unwilling to change. When we pinpoint what it is we can then ask ourselves, "Is what I have been holding on to worth more to me than my commitment to the Lord?"