The Crud

I have had a cold now . . . for about 3 years. Well, actually it has only been three weeks, but it seems like years to me. I never get sick, but this time? YIKES! I told my admin today that if mucus were gold I’d be Bill Gates! And, of course, now Andrea has it, and bad case if it, too. Yet another reason to hate winter - it is cold and flu season. I view every person I see as a potential carrier, a transmitter of miserable germs.

“The Crud” as it is called is highly contagious. So also is a bitter spirit. Consider a warning from the Bible:

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. – Hebrews 12:14-15

A negative and bitter spirit is highly contagious and spiritually detrimental. Hebrews refers to it as a root springing up out of the ground. Bitterness starts beneath the surface where no one can see it, but it doesn’t stay hidden for long. You can just look at a bitter person and see it written all over their face, and eventually their words and actions will spew the mucus of bitterness everywhere they go. This particular weed of discontent not only causes trouble for the carrier but it also “defiles many.” If we are not careful we can allow people around us who are negative to infect us and turn our otherwise healthy spirit into a congested, negative mess.

The advice experts give us to lessen our odds of catching “The Crud” can also give us some help to avoid catching the “Bitterness Crud” from others. The best line of defense against germs is to avoid infected people. I think that is sound spiritual advice as well. When others come to you to complain about their church, their pastor, their Sunday school, or whatever, just stop them. Tell them you don’t want to hear it. There is a difference in compassionately listening to someone’s troubles verses giving them an outlet to pass on their poison and gain momentum for their “cause.”

The experts also encourage us to wash our hands often to keep germs away from us. Again, this is great advice. Think about it. Doctors and nurses touch sick people all the time yet seldom succumb to the same bugs they treat. How can they work in the middle of microbe hell and never be singed by its fire? They wash their hands all the time. They treat the sick without becoming one of them. We are called to be compassionate toward those who are hurting and to do all we can to help them, but we must be careful never to take ownership of their offense. My friend Chris recently wrote a great blog about the dangers of taking on the offenses of others. I encourage you to read it. When others come to us with their negativity, we help them heal not by encouraging their negativity but by helping them find positive ways to cope and deal with their hurt.

Then also consider the benefit of keeping your immune system at peak performance levels. Essential vitamins and herbs are beneficial in strengthening our body’s self-defense against germs. So also we need to nurture our souls with some vital spirit strengthening resources -infusing our minds with God’s Word, fortifying our spirits with regular meaningful prayer, and cleansing our hearts with honest confession of sin. The best treatment for the “Negativity Crud” is prevention. When all is well with our soul, the Bitterness Bug will not survive and thrive.

It’s cold and flu season right now, but we are susceptible to bitterness and negativity at anytime. Protect yourself, it’s germy out there.