Friday, May 29, 2009

What you tolerate dominates............

That sentence alone is powerful enough to make a point. What YOU tolerate will in fact overcome and overtake. That is the enemies hope. It's his insidious lie. How many of us as 'good' christians believe that we have to tolerate bad bahavior, mistreatment, unkindness, status quo, just to say we are turning the other cheek, or choosing to be content in our circumstances.  Bologna!! I am learning this lesson the hard way (which seems to be the way I learn most of my life lessons), that when I 'allow' something unacceptable in my life, such as how someone may choose to treat me, I have given the enemy a foothold. Honestly, just think about it for a minute with me. Say you have a relationship in which the other person does not treat you with respect, and belittles you and speaks down to you. Day in, and day out. It never lets up. Do you tolerate it? I am finding out that as a precious child of God, that I have value. I have worth. I am precious in God's eyes. I am loved. And if I am treasured by Him, it surely matters how I am treated by my earthly relationships. Don't ya think. I should have enough confidence and self worth to know when I am being mistreated and should not stand for it. How I approach this can be very firm but kind, and still be considered love and grace. You see when you speak the truth in love, you kick the devil in his teeth. When you stand up and fight for truth, honor and all that is good and lovely, you stop a potential cycle of defeat. 

No weapon formed against me will prosper, I am a child of the living God. I am MORE than a conqueror. I am not fighting against flesh and blood. So when I put down my foot on bad behavior from another, I am defeating an already defeated foe, from gaining a foothold in my life. Amen!!! 

3 comments:

Matthew Campbell said...

I understand what you're saying, Lydia. I too struggle with how to confront people when they do things like that. If it's for Jesus' sake, then wonderful! But when people whom I love do it just because they're having a bad day, it needs to be confronted, but in love. Yelling and arguing only inflames the problem.

I've noticed that it takes discernment and making the right choices. Making good choices is crucial. There are so many choices to make when you're angry. And latey I've had difficulty making the good ones.

Door mats? For the name of Jesus Christ, yes! When we're mistreated for the sake of the Gospel, we need to rejoice, but I think we believers have made the mistake of believing that we need to lay down and take anything that anyone does to us.

Joel B. said...

Great words, Lydia! I hadn't thought about a lot of this in the way you worded it, and it's really great stuff to meditate upon.

The Lewis Family said...

Interesting blog post! Something I haven't really stopped to think about too much. You've got me thinking. Thanks!