PROTECTING THE ANOINTING

 PROTECTING THE ANOINTING

Peanut and I were sitting in the car waiting for Jane. I looked over at the passenger side of the car next to ours and a young man was opening the door for his wife. I thought, “Wow, you don’t see that much anymore!” opening the car door for a woman used to be a common act of respect, appreciation, and honor—to show that the woman was someone special in the man’s eyes.

 

Many good ideas and practices like this one have been dropped, and many of us Christians have been wrongly taught when it comes to appreciation, honor, and respect, not only for others but even more insidious, as I see it, is the lack of respect for the anointing God’s put within us individually. Are we protecting that anointing, or are we sabotaging ourselves without even knowing it?  

 

In 1 Chronicles 16:22 God says: “Touch not mine anointed.” Verse 21 says: “But the Lord did not let anyone mistreat them. He warned kings not to harm them.” But what if we are the culprits ourselves, not giving honor to the God-given anointing within us?

 

Are we sometimes being like Jeshurun of Deuteronomy 32:15 who “lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation”?

 

When I thought about the man opening the door for his wife, I thought about some of the wisdom Solomon shared about a virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. “She perceiveth that her merchandise is good” (v. 18). And as a wife, “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life” (v. 12). And verse 10: “Her price is far above rubies.” Isn’t the anointing of God in us at least as valuable as this? We need to honor who we are spiritually and take care that we aren’t sabotaging our most precious treasure.

 

So what are some of the ways we can honor and protect who we are spiritually? We can consciously be more aware of our physical surroundings. Is the environment in our home, at the grocery store we go to, where we choose to go for entertainment—does it encourage us spiritually, or is it a place we merely endure? Or can we possibly choose a different environment that is better for our spirit and our soul? Jesus can lead us there if we are willing.

 

Are we being cognizant of the food, the drink, the medications we take, and how they are affecting our spiritual treasure? And are we practicing healthy boundaries with other people, or are we letting others step all over us? These are choices we make.  Are they encouraging our spiritual anointings, or are they stealing energy from who we really are?

God says we have Christ in us. It’s a mystery, and it’s a treasure beyond anything the world has to offer: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

 

So like the man who cared enough to walk around to the passenger side of the car to open the door for his wife, let’s open the door for our anointing, treating it with respect and honor and protecting it from all its enemies.

 

Love, Carolyn