We females can experience some drama with extended family members. It's a shame, because ladies are the ones who actually care the most about the family, and so because of this we seem to be the ones to get entangled in clashes in relationships or painful interactions. While the guys stare at landscaping or watch football.
A little pre-forgiveness might be in order? As in, you purpose in your heart to forgive certain family members for the aggravation and heartache they are about to cause you, before they cause it.
Joseph was a pretty good example of reacting graciously to annoying habits of his family members such as: selling him into slavery, telling his father he'd been killed, stuff like that. He messed with his brothers a lil bit after all that, but ultimately he said to them in Genesis 50:20, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good." Which is pretty cool that he could say that. You sold me into slavery, I'm good with that. Our dad thought I was dead. It's all good, brah. I think we can get over ourselves and our family clashes if he could get over that one. And think that ultimately maybe God is allowing that difficult relationship in our life for our own good. To teach us something maybe, or force some spiritual growth on us (ew, spiritual growth, it's always so unpleasant.)
A Sunday School teacher I used to have and love, Mary Jane, had our class memorize the following passage in Ephesians and I bet if you repeat it off and on as you are chopping up onions for your stuffing, you can memorize it too. It is very useful to have this passage running through our minds in all relationships:
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger,
all jealousy and slander, and every form of malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as Jesus Christ has forgiven you."
Ephesians 4:31 and 32
Whatever I was fired up about against someone else, really gets put in perspective and humbles me when I am reminded that: Oh yeah. Think what I've been forgiven for. But it's so much more fun to think about other people's sins and meanness rather than our own. Can't do it, gotta obey God's word.
A little pre-forgiveness might be in order? As in, you purpose in your heart to forgive certain family members for the aggravation and heartache they are about to cause you, before they cause it.
Joseph was a pretty good example of reacting graciously to annoying habits of his family members such as: selling him into slavery, telling his father he'd been killed, stuff like that. He messed with his brothers a lil bit after all that, but ultimately he said to them in Genesis 50:20, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good." Which is pretty cool that he could say that. You sold me into slavery, I'm good with that. Our dad thought I was dead. It's all good, brah. I think we can get over ourselves and our family clashes if he could get over that one. And think that ultimately maybe God is allowing that difficult relationship in our life for our own good. To teach us something maybe, or force some spiritual growth on us (ew, spiritual growth, it's always so unpleasant.)
A Sunday School teacher I used to have and love, Mary Jane, had our class memorize the following passage in Ephesians and I bet if you repeat it off and on as you are chopping up onions for your stuffing, you can memorize it too. It is very useful to have this passage running through our minds in all relationships:
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger,
all jealousy and slander, and every form of malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as Jesus Christ has forgiven you."
Ephesians 4:31 and 32
Whatever I was fired up about against someone else, really gets put in perspective and humbles me when I am reminded that: Oh yeah. Think what I've been forgiven for. But it's so much more fun to think about other people's sins and meanness rather than our own. Can't do it, gotta obey God's word.
RSS Feed