Mom said, “Hurry and get cleaned up Eric! You’re going to be late for school!”

Eric was still sleepy, so he dragged himself out of bed as mom continued to scream, “I want to hear that water running NOW!”

So young Eric went into the bathroom, lathered up his washcloth and quickly washed all ‘the important parts’ so he could tell mom that he did it.

Not long after getting to school, Eric began itching badly. He tried to discreetly scratch his bottom, but the itching was so intense, he didn’t care. He aggressively scratched trying to get some relief.

It got so bad that his 4th grade teacher called mom. She came to school, picked up Eric and scolded him for not washing his behind.

Eric told his mom, “But, I DID wash it mom!”

Eric‘s problem was that he quickly washed, but didn’t properly rinse away all of the soap, which made him itch, so he had the same effect and symptoms as if he didn’t wash at all. His going through the motions led to some uncomfortable consequences.

WHAT‘S THE LESSON HERE?

So many times as adults we can get in a hurry, especially when overwhelmed, and simply go through the motions of what we’re SUPPOSED to do, but don’t do it properly.

We mutter a quick prayer just to say we did it…

We robotically read a ‘verse of the day’ rather than really reading and studying the bible…

We rush through blessing our food without putting any real thought into what we’re saying….

We quickly say The Model Prayer (popularly known as The Lord’s Prayer) rather than having an intimate moment with God…

We say I love you to our family rather than showing I love you…

We hypnotically ‘go through the motions’ on our jobs without thinking about the real reasons we’re doing them, or the implications and consequences if we don’t do them properly and correctly.

We ‘go through the motions’ with our spiritual, personal and professional lives and wonder why our ‘butt won’t stop itching’.

Don’t just go through the motions just to say you check ✔️ed off a box….figuratively WASH AND RINSE THOROUGHLY!

Eric learned his lesson, and it serves as a good reminder for us.

Simply going through the motions can lead to uncomfortable consequences and ‘sticky’ situations.

Colossians 3:23 (ESV)

²³ Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

BE BLESSTIFIED!

There are negative stereotypes of every race, gender, geographic region, culture, nationality, religion etc.

This is one article that needs no evidence or examples because as you read it those negative stereotypes of which you are aware easily come to mind.

I don’t know what’s worse, negative stereotypes or those people who seem to do their best to support those stereotypes with their thinking, attitudes and behavior.

Even in the bible, the apostle Paul mentions a stereotype that was supported by the behavior of SOME of the people of a certain group, that projected to all of them…

Titus 1:10-13 (NKJV)

¹⁰ For there are many insubordinate, both idle ^(A)talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹ whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, ^(B)for the sake of dishonest gain. ^{12 (C)}One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. ^(D)Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,

Notice that Paul said, “THIS TESTIMONY IS TRUE”. That’s because that…

No matter hard some people work to remove negative stereotypes of their particular ‘group’, there are others who seem to be committed to helping those stereotypes to live on.

Unfortunately, some stereotypes are like rumors… most (but not all) rumors are wrapped around a kernel of truth.

Think about the many groups of which you are a part, and the negative stereotypes of those groups…

Which of those stereotypes does your thinking, attitudes and behavior help those stereotypes live on?

Be careful, sometimes our stereotyping someone fits a stereotype within itself.

BE BLESSTIFIED!