I skipped church this past Sunday morning.
That’s a bit unfair. It’s more like I missed church. I had been fighting a losing battle with a sinus infection. My ears hurt. My throat burned. My head felt like it would explode with each cough.
Regardless, I missed church. It was difficult to see Hollianne, Carson, JT and Britton leave for service without me. Sky, our loyal dog, and I were regulated to the couch for the morning.
When you have to miss something that you normally take for granted, it hurts. We are creatures of habit and we certainly don’t enjoy having our routines derailed for sickness or an unexpected event.
But there are other pieces in our lives that we need to skip. Those pieces of personality or character that are damaging to ourselves or others.
Perhaps it is anger.
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20
Maybe we tend to struggle with pride.
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Romans 12:16
There are countless other struggles we might face.
Just because these traits are unhealthy doesn’t make them any easier to quit. We know that we need to work on these things, but our pride and selfish nature push us to keep them at the forefront of our lives.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 2:3
If we are lucky- we have good friends who can help us when we need “adjustments” to our attitude. At other times, we are self-aware enough to know when we need to change our behavior. Regardless of how we become aware of our flaws- we need to ask Jesus for help. We need to let go and let Jesus carry these burdens for us. We should seek intentional, directed prayer to help us focus. We have to ask others to pray for our shortcomings, too.
What do you need to skip in 2015? I’ve named (a few of) my bad habits in the sections above. Please pray for me to have strength to address these….and let me know how I can pray for you.
Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Proverbs 4:25
And I look forward to worshiping with my family again next Sunday morning.
God bless.
Friday Word(s) 
Keith, Missing church when you have a communicable infection that might effect other members of the church might be in the church’s best interest. Missing church can be hard when we yearn to be with our brothers and sisters. I’m glad for what you felt not being in church Sunday morning. We all should feel an emptiness when we miss worship. Just as important however, I believe the church missed you. God bless your efforts to encourage us all through these communications and thank you for the reminders of who and what Christ wants us all to be.