Handlers and Trainers

Saturday night my husband and I went to see the movie Secretariat.
I have been waiting to see this movie for sometime now, because I remember watching all three of the triple crown races and cheering that horse on.
You just knew watching him run,that history was being made.
This horse finished the last leg of the triple crown by pulling ahead and winning 36 furlongs,or 1/8 of a mile ahead of the pack.
His record and speed at Bellmont,to this day,has never been matched.
On the drive back home I got to thinking about what made this horse so great,yes his need to run was a part and his lineage of a great race sire with fine blood lines also made him who he was.
But what really helped him win was having a handler,trainer and jockey who understood and knew how to work with his temperament and personality.
They helped him refine and bring forth his best by teaching him direction and control of his talents.
Secretariat was a heavy horse who like to eat,sleep and be lazy,but he was an edgy stallion who loved to run.
Those who worked with him taught him how to take his excess energy and use it,with his need to run,to become the best he could be.
You know I think were all like that.
We see our faults has negative and push them aside or feel bad about them but what we don't understand is those same negative traits can be harnessed,redirected and used toward positive actions.
We are all given gifts but we tend to take those same unrefined traits and urges and lean toward the negative instead of the positive,lets face it its much easier to be sloppy and out of control.
Jesus understood that Peter was hotheaded,impulsive and negative but once He taught him how to restrain,control and redirect his passions,he was able to take all the negative influences in his personality and make them positive,leading him to heights he could never imagine he would reach.
He became the rock Jesus knew he could be,the solid foundation of a great movement and belief.
That's what a good clergy person and church is suppose to help us do,make us realize that all that negative energy we've been expending on all our misdeeds can be placed into positive action.
If you belong to a good church with a good priest or leader they will help you train the excess negatives of your personality then channel them toward the positive for what God is expecting of you.
How,you may ask,do they do this?
By teaching us prayer,religious directions,bible studies and most of all dialogue,of not only our tailored need for correction but also our deserving praise.
No one can be good at what they do if they feel no reward,we tend to be learned creatures and if doing bad feels better then doing good,then why bother doing good.
We will never change our basic make up but we can achieve greater height's of our being by understanding that being stubborn or aggressive are not really bad when properly directed and channeled.
The same person who is considered thick headed or unmovable may have what it takes to be the next martyr or saint for the faith.
Lets face it,it takes allot of stubborn determination to die for a cause.
Our basic personalities are a good thing but how we and those around us,choose to harness,train and control these traits will determine the success and fullness we have in our walk with God and each other.