Rebuilding Your Foundation to Be Built Up

I have seen contradictory opinions as to whether or not Jesus was actually a carpenter. Whether or not he was a carpenter, or just a son of a carpenter; I am actually the daughter of a carpenter. My father built our house with his own two hands from the ground up. I can remember playing at the site while he was hammering away, pouring the concrete, raising the walls and I even got to play on the roof while he laid the shingles. It was quite a treat for me at the time.

The point being, I have seen what it takes to build a sturdy house. It requires strong foundations and walls that can bear the weight. Through the use of quality materials, skilled craftsmanship and time; you end up with a building that is strong and can withstand much.

I have struggled with setbacks and difficulties while working on my spiritual growth. It suddenly dawned on me that I am trying to build my Christian life on a less than adequate foundation. I am rife with bad habits and bad thoughts and they just can't support my "house".

It is like the saying you have to walk before you can run, and putting your cart before the horse. I have to work on my foundation before I can put up the walls and the roof and decorate my house.

I am sure that I am my starting point. No one outside of myself can be my focus. And since love is the basic and most important thing to work on, everything else will fall into line when I master that; I have to learn to show love more. I try to show love but maybe I am not clear on what love really is. Christian love that is. We all have our feelings on what makes us feel loved but there has to be a more concrete criteria for showing love towards others than our transitory feelings. After all, our feelings are subject to being shaped by our past experiences and our life. That is different for everyone.

So, today I am making myself aware of the need to build myself a stronger foundation; tomorrow I am going to further contemplate Christian love and how I can be an example of it.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the steams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Matthew 7:24-27

"Because if you have a strong foundation like we have, then you can build or rebuild anything on it. But if you've got a weak foundation you can't build anything." Jack Scalia

Resources
Day 70 - Being Humble And Letting God Work

Brainy Quote -Foundation Quote

Bible Gateway - Matthew 7

Wiki Answers - Was Jesus A Carpenter?