Flight Attendant Analogy

Oxygen Mask and Biblical Principles

The flight attendant's instruction to secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others highlights a profound principle. It seems counter-intuitive, especially for parents, but it's rooted in the reality that if you can't breathe, you can't help anyone else. This parallels the biblical principle in Mark 12, where Jesus says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Self-care isn't selfish; it's essential for effectively caring for others. God wants us to take care of ourselves so we can better help those around us.

Three Metaphors from 1 Peter 2

Peter uses three metaphors to illustrate how to live out our faith in an unpredictable world. These metaphors and their applications are:

Hungry Infant: Feed Your Own Soul First

Peter encourages us to crave pure spiritual milk like newborn babies. This signifies a deep hunger for God's word, prayer, and fellowship with other believers. This craving helps us mature in our faith, having tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

Crave Defined

The word "crave" in the original Greek describes an intense, desperate hunger that can't be ignored or postponed. This contrasts with a casual interest in spiritual things or treating faith as a hobby.

Hindrances to Spiritual Appetite

Peter identifies several things that can kill our spiritual hunger:

  • Malice: Harboring bitterness and ill will affects our relationships and our relationship with God.

  • Deceit: Dishonesty with ourselves or others.

  • Hypocrisy: Pretending spirituality while living an inconsistent life.

  • Envy: Resenting others for what they have leads to ingratitude and discontentment.

  • Slander: Speaking negatively about others hinders our connection with God.

Regaining Spiritual Hunger

To regain spiritual hunger, we must:

  1. Rid ourselves of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

  2. Crave pure spiritual milk.

  3. Taste and see that the Lord is good, which can create an appetite that wasn't there before.

Living Stone: You're Not Building Alone

We are living stones being built into a spiritual house, with God as the master builder. He selects, shapes, and positions us in ways that align with His purpose.

God's Shaping Process

God shapes us through pressure and friction, using challenges to mold us in unexpected ways. Difficult situations can be sacred invitations to submit to God's work and depend on Him.

Jesus as the Cornerstone

Jesus is the cornerstone, holding up weight and aligning the structure. We often err by trying to be the cornerstone ourselves.

Diagnosing Cornerstone Thinking

Questions to diagnose if we're trying to be the cornerstone:

  • Do I automatically assume it's because I failed when something goes wrong?

  • Is your first response to something going wrong shame?

  • Do I believe that if I just tried harder, prayed more, did better, that all my problems would be solved?

  • How do I respond when things don't go according to my plan?

  • Am I constantly anxious about things beyond my control?

  • Is my sense of worth completely tied to my success (as a mom)?

  • Do I resist asking for help because I should be able to handle everything myself?

Royal Priesthood: Your Ordinary Is Sacred

We are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, called to declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into light.

Priesthood and Motherhood

There are parallels between priesthood and motherhood:

  1. Transforming Ordinary into Sacred: Priests transform ordinary elements into sacred offerings and similarly, mothers transform ordinary moments into sacred ones with spiritual intention.

  2. Finding Holiness in the Hidden Work: Priests' ministry often happens in quiet, unseen corners and mothers' unseen labor is spiritual service.

  3. Representation between God and Others: Priests represent God to people and people to God, and mothers serve a priestly function by praying for children, modeling forgiveness and grace, and helping them understand God’s character.

Applying the Metaphor

Seeing ourselves as a royal priesthood changes our perspective: the kitchen becomes a holy temple, the living room a sacred ground, and the car a moving sanctuary.

Spiritual Oxygen

Even if it doesn't seem like the oxygen mask is inflating and the bag doesn't inflate, oxygen is flowing. Spiritually, we must keep breathing in God's presence and goodness, even when it seems like it's not having an impact. People around us are counting on us.

Before rushing to meet everyone else's needs, breathe in God's presence, crave His word like a hungry infant, rest on Him as our cornerstone, and commit our ordinary moments to God as sacred offerings.