Mercy Anang Blogspot

In a world of instant gratification and the worship of self, coupled with our sinful hearts, we always grapple with the damaging nature of selfishness. It is essentially saying, ‘be at my service at all cost’- it just doesn’t matter how. We hurt others when we make life revolve around us without giving thought to the other person. We look out for our needs at the expense of the next person; It’s all about what serves us or make us comfortable. It’s never about giving thought to our brother or sister. Selfishness, unchecked leaves us empty and drives away those who really matter-those who seek our best interest at heart. In 1 Corinthians 13 where the infamous love verse is quoted, Paul says love is not selfish. How is love not selfish? It does not make decisions that end up gratifying self and leaving the other person destitute or discouraged. In light of the above, it stands to reason that to overcome this evil that plagues our hearts, we ought to ask the LORD to transform our h

Social media is inundated with many adverts advocating for the perfect curves and ultimately, the perfect body in every sense. The pressure to have the Kim K or the Tyson Beckford looks drive us to all kinds of experiments to attain that physique. Others become anorexic in their quest of losing weight and staying slim. Others go for plastic surgery to alter their looks in extreme ways. For some, it is the desire of appearing fairer, thus the craze for the hydroquinone effect. Whatever it is, at a point, most of us, if not all of us have been dissatisfied with our physical appearance. Growing up, I hated my lips! I wished they were smaller. I wanted to smile showing my teeth effortlessly. I was very conscious of my physique and that led to a never-ending battle with low self-esteem. I’m sure if I had the means to alter my looks, I would not have hesitated! You see, instinctively, we craze for acceptance and attention. We want to turn heads and be the topic for the prettie

In the past week, I have struggled with unhealthy fear- the kind that keeps you absent-minded. The kind that gives you sleepless nights. The kind that sees tears roll down your cheeks. That fear that makes you want to go into hiding. That voice of fear that drowns every ounce of hope in you. We have all been there. Very often, unhealthy fear stems from not knowing what’s ahead of us. We create the perfect picture in our minds but when things begin to go contrary to what we envisaged, we get jittery and begin to imagine worse things that could happen. Unhealthy fear prevents us from enjoying the moments as they come. It prevents us from taking bold steps that will bring about breakthroughs. It erodes trust in relationships. Unhealthy fear essentially makes us give up even before the race starts. Ultimately, it keeps us in a prison where we find ourselves in shackles of despair and craziness. Unhealthy fear can make us lose out on a great business opportunity or miss out on

We have all been there. We try with every ounce of strength in us to justify our shortcomings. It is never our fault and often times, we say things like, “She made me say to say those words”, “ I was just in a bad mood”, etc. I’m sure you can think of countless occasions where a heartfelt apology would have restored calm, instead of wasting time to prove a point. But here’s the crux of the matter, why do we get defensive when we are in the wrong? Why do we easily seek a hiding a place when we are criticized or made aware of our mistakes? I would love to see your answers in the comments below. However, I believe that the reason we get defensive is that our pride is often times hurt and we would rather defend that ego or pride rather than admitting our offense and seeking growth. The Collins Dictionary puts it better in the following, “ If someone is on the defensive , they are trying to protect themselves or their interests because they feel unsure or threatened”. In justif