Good Monday Morning Coffee conversation everyone ☺️! How is everyone doing today? I everyone is well. Let me welcome you to a new day, a new week, and another encouraging conversation with me, Kenya! So if you’re ready, then grab that drink☕️, and let’s start the discussion.
So, for today’s conversation we will be finishing up the “Loving Others Well” series! Just to recap, last week we discussed how we should not assume. Basically, we learn how not to be opinionated, critical, or a “negative Nancy”. We understood why it is wise to come into a conversation from an unbiased perspective. And also, receiving the understanding that our perspective may be incorrect. So, now let us get into part five: How to set the atmosphere?
The Atmosphere Matters
1. Setting The Atmosphere
Last week’s discussion I believe was a great way to not only helped us recognize what not celebrating or loving others looks like but it also helped us to see how it effects the atmosphere. Have you ever been in a relationship or around a person that made the room feel uneasy. It is an uncomfortable feeling and if you’re like anyone else, you are looking for the exit. Although we can not see the air, we still can feel it. It may feel cool, breezy, warm, or humid. Well the same can be said about the atmosphere that we created. So lets look at two examples:
Example one: A stay at home mother upkeeps the home. The home smells good. When everyone gets home, she greets them with a smile, dinner is ready, and she makes sure that she inquires over everyone’s day and gives encouragement if someone feels frustrated.
Example two: A stay at home mother upkeeps the home. The home smells good, and when everyone gets home, she does not greet them and is not inviting. She lets them know the food is done and to not bother her cause she’s been working all day.
Now, which example would be conducive to setting the atmosphere for “Loving Others Well”? Example one is the answer because the women is being intentional and making sure that not only is her home is inviting but she is being inviting and warm as well. Our attitudes have to be taken into consideration. A hotel can also provide a clean place to stay and food to eat but the person is the one who pulls it all together with their caring and warm personality.
2. What are you Looking at and Listen To?
Maybe you are not the caring and warm person that you would like to be and you want to change. Well it’s about renewing your mind with what you look at and listen too. There are so many avenues of influence which can help you or not help you. It’s about seeking out the right influences and protecting your heart from the wrong influences. Proverbs 4:23 says, “So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life”. We have to be very vigilant in this area because it is so easy to become what we consume. There are varies books, podcast, the bible, music , and so on that can promote a heart of gratitude, being a warm and caring person, and intentional.
For me personally, I have been on a journey and part of this journey includes reading books and listening to podcast that are in keeping with my laser focus on my goals. These tools are very informative and transformative. They help me to be intentional. When you add these things into your routine, you will eventually see things differently and thus your behavior should follow.
3. Think Positive of Others
Now I know that point three could be a hard one but just hear me out. When I worked in nursing, I would hear so many bad things about people. These gossiping individuals always ran together. Although they would tell bad things about people, I did not like judging someone based on someone else’s opinion. At times I did discover that the gossipers were right but I still don’t regret giving the person an opportunity to show me their true character. Also there were times when these gossiper were just plain wrong. The point that I am making is that it is not about the other person but about you. It is about what kind of person you are. It is so easy to get hung up on something so petty but as we mature we have to roll with own conviction, standards, and morals. Just because the majority is going one way, does not mean it is the right way.
Also this points us back to point two. That whatever we allow ourselves to be influenced by, we most likely will take on those some traits. If you are listening to gossipers on social media who are always speaking like they have the “inside scoop” then you will be swayed to think a certain way about that thing or person or place. Instead of getting the latest scoop from the news, get it from God’s word and hear from God for yourself. Overall we are to love our neighbor. So stay away from sources that influence others to do the opposite. Remember Philippians 4:8 says, ” Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”. Mediating on this scripture will help you have a new outlook on life and people.
So in conclusion, I hope everyone enjoy the “Loving Others Well” series. Sometimes we can get so got up into our own affairs that we can forget about those around us. I hope that everyone found this series to be helpful and blessing to your own personal relationships.
Side Note: Now if you have observed certain questionable behaviors before even getting to know the person, then take caution because now you have observed them for your self, and have witness the type of character they have for yourself. (You do not have to be friends with everyone!)
Monday Morning Coffee question: What are some other ways that we can set the atmosphere in order to make it conducive to loving others well? Did you find this series to be helpful? If so, please share your thoughts. I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for joining me for today’s Monday Morning Coffee conversation. I hope you were blessed, inspired, challenged, and of course encouraged! If so, then please like 👍🏾, subscribe, comment, and share down below. Until next Monday, have a beautiful🌺, blessed day and bye for now 👋🏾!
-Kenya🌹
Coffee and Encouraging Conversation 