“I don’t want to be a doormat.” “I don’t want people walking over me, taking advantage of me, using my kind nature to their advantage. ” Doormat – a person who is the habitual object of abuse or humiliation by another. There are times when we need to stand up, when we need to speak up and defend ourselves. In Acts 25:10,11 Paul declares that he is willing to receive the consequences for his actions, but he is not prepared to be falsely accused. Yet there are times when we choose to lay down our lives, even though there is no fault in ourselves. This was the nature of Christ, He lay down His life, by His own choice (John 10:15,17,18). Sometimes for some greater cause or purpose or for the sake of peace, we too may chose to lay down our rights and our freedoms, this is not being a doormat.
A doormat has no choice, there are no options before it. The doormat is taken advantage of and it must submit whether it wants to or not.
However the free person can choose to lay down their rights for the sake of a higher good, but the doormat has no options for freedom. The free person and the doormat may go through the same experiences and situations. For the free person the experiences are an indication of the person having sufficient control and inner strength that they choose to remain in the situation because they see beyond the immediate struggles, for the doormat the experiences are a sign of the person’s weakness and an indication of being trapped. The free person may seem bound on the outside, but inwardly they are making choices about how they will respond in their actions and heart motives. The free person often sees the negative experiences and situations as opportunities to serve and minister to others.
The difference between the free person and the doormat has to do with the heart not the circumstances and situations. Is your heart and relationship with the Lord strong enough that you serve others even at your own expense?
Lord Jesus, we need Your strength and Your understanding so that we too would be willing and able to lay down our lives for a higher purpose. Help us to use our lives for the sake of ministering to others, for the promotion of Your truth.
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