Well, welcome back to Rising 365, a podcast committed and inspiring to supporting others
to embrace the opportunity to rise with each new day.
Rising Daily can be a challenge for many and it has been for myself.
And I hope that what you hear in these episodes will assist you in rising every day of the
year.
Welcome to episode 30 entitled, Pick Up Your Own Trash.
So the past couple of weeks we have had consecutive weekends of spending time at youth retreats.
So these are kids who are part of youth group, are invited out to these special camps to
be a part of youth ministry, to be poured into, to be challenged to walk in their faith
or even just being introduced to the gospel to accept the faith of living for Jesus.
But what was similar to every retreat we've been to, we were even on a college campus,
is the common trend of leaving their trash behind them.
Totally.
So we're all gathered together.
It doesn't matter if we're playing a big group activity game.
It doesn't matter if it's during a chapel service, if it's a meal or socializing.
Once they were dismissed, there was no doubt going to be a plethora of their trash being
left behind so other people can pick it up.
And finally, patients of mine were thin and started calling these individuals back to
come pick up their own trash.
And the first instinct in words they said was, it's not my trash or I picked up all
my own trash.
It's someone else's.
It was sad to witness that even in this Christian setting where we're trying to instill in these
young people's lives how important it is to live a life that's different, man, they slipped
back into the blame game.
The deflecting that it's not mine or whatever.
But it was their trash.
And all we wanted them to do was come back and pick up their own trash, to admit it was
theirs.
Even if it wasn't theirs, sometimes you have to pick up the trash of others.
And this is exactly what we're taught in scripture that Matthew 7 for us is how can you say to
your brother, let me take a speck out of your eye when all the time is you have your own
plank in your own eye.
You know, we want to worry about other people's and we're quick to blame others.
But we just took time to pick up our own trash, pull the plank out of our own eye.
We would be able to see life a little clearer and not see it so blurry.
But we spend more time looking at the faults of others, not ourselves and taking care of
ourselves.
And it's also the importance of maybe you've heard this little proverb.
It says if you lie down with dogs, you're going to get fleas.
You know, this comes from Proverbs 14, 7 says, leave the presence of a fool for there you
do not meet words of knowledge.
And then Paul quotes the Greek poet.
I don't know if I say his name right, but Menanderer, when he writes in Corinthians,
bad company corrupts good character.
It comes from First Corinthians five, fifteen, thirty three.
And what these Proverbs and what Paul is saying is.
We got to be careful who we hang out with.
Even though we may pick up our own trash, the trash of others.
Persona fires upon us.
And this is the hard part of.
Who are real friends should be.
Should we be a part of crowds that need to experience Christ, someone who is patient
and kind and loving and joyful and serving?
Yeah, we need to be a part of those crowds.
But when we're amongst those crowds and it's finally time to disperse, you know what we
do as a person living for Christ as we pick up our trash.
We make sure whatever we brought with us, we take back and throw it away.
We take care of our own business.
You know, that's why it's so important.
That we look at our lives daily and say, where is the trash?
That I've left behind me.
Is it a broken relationship?
Is it a job?
I have not been doing the best at.
Is it?
What is it that is leaving a negative mark in my life?
And it could be the thing that is causing me to.
Making rising a struggle.
It's time to go back and pick it up and clean up.
Because as long as there's trash still behind you.
That means there's situations that aren't closed.
That need to be addressed.
But when you take those hard steps to make things right.
To clean up your own mess.
Pick up your own trash.
All of a sudden, you're free from the burden of your past.
Because you know you've done all you can to clean it up.
You actually feel proud of yourself.
You know, moving forward, you're going to never.
I use that strong word, never leave trash behind again.
We all know what happens when.
People go to like a beach or a campsite and.
Hiking trails and people pack in trash.
They pack in items that they're going to need.
Food.
Necessities.
But sadly, they leave them behind.
Making what was once a beautiful place.
Nothing but trash now.
Nothing but a garbage heap.
And how that not only affects them.
But it affects the people who come behind you.
That's why it's so important to.
Hack out what you pack in.
As some of those signs say at these.
Wonderful and beautiful parks that there are.
But how important it is to pack out your own trash
and throw it away.
People can look at your life and.
One, you can be again, proud of your life.
And two others will know that you are responsible, respectful.
Individual who will do all that they can to make things right
when they leave.
And they're going to trust you.
So I hope you're inspired and you start picking up your own trash
and take those steps to clean it up.
Well, thank you for tuning in.
I hope each episode brings you inspiration to embrace every new day
to support this podcast.
Consider booking me as a speaker for your next conference, school assembly,
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where I can share the message of rising three sixty five to arrange this.
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on your preferred listening platform until we meet again.
I'm Mike Pena, reminding you to rise and seize the gift of a new day.
You are destined for this moment.