Did you ever have something you didn’t want to do to such an extent that you were willing to jump through hoops and over hurdles to avoid doing that thing and wound up making a lot more work for yourself than if you had just gone and done it in the first place? Kids will sometimes do a lot of work to avoid work.
My parents visited us while in Ukraine when I had my fourth baby. With homeschooling the other three and responsibilities at the church, it was a blessing to have them visit while the baby was little. My dad has always enjoyed taking his books to a coffee shop somewhere and ordering a few cookies with some tea and studying.
had a circuit of his favorite places. When he would leave the house, he never zipped his backpack because he felt it was an extra step between him and his books. Obviously, why would you zip up your backpack if you are just going to unzip it again? Well, as I’ve said before ‘Babushkas’ (Russian for grandmothers) thought of themselves as the matrix that governed society. They were always sure to let me know if my kids were dressed insufficiently. They would always inform him that his backpack was unzipped while waiting at the bus stop.
After several confrontations, my dad had our translator make a sign, and even had it laminated and pinned it to his backpack. The sign read:
“I know my backpack is unzipped”
Sometimes a man just doesn’t want to zip his backpack! Why was he willing to go to such an extent? Now, maybe it was a pride issue. Or maybe he didn’t care to have a grandmother treat him like they would a child who doesn’t know how to get himself dressed.
From time to time, we have all been corrected, sometimes from a spirit of judgment, and sometimes in the spirit of love. What made the difference?
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Galatians 6:1
The difference in how someone responds to correction is in the attitude of pride that they are approached with. In the case of my father and the backpack, it didn’t rise to the level where he needed to be corrected. We can be prudent about the battles we choose to fight, but Babushkas were sometimes prideful in their approach.
Sometimes someone we love is truly wrong and is in need of correction. A spirit of gentleness means to recognize your own shortcomings and mistakes and to be able to be corrected yourself.
Still, Paul never promises that person will enjoy being corrected. Do we like to be told we are wrong?
Recently a friend asked what ‘restoring such a one in the spirit of gentleness’ would look like in very practical terms. It might mean doors slammed in your face, or you might be hung up on. It doesn’t mean your tactic was incorrect. It just might mean, you were a tool used by God, and that person will have to do some soul searching and growing, even if you don’t ever see the impact your words had on them.
May I share this?❤️
Hmmm….you bring back some memories for me. I remember sometimes I would get upset with others when they corrected me. One time in particular comes to mind. I had gotten mad at Barbie Gorham and was so rude it did result in a response from her that I did not appreciate at the time. (Let me say that it was ME who was in the wrong.) On the way home, I kept saying to myself…”I will NOT apologize, I will NOT.” About 15 minutes later I called Barbie…intending to tell her I was sorry for the WAY I said things, not WHAT I said. But, as soon as I heard her sweet voice answering the phone, I just fell apart and confessed how wrong I had been. Know what she said? “I knew you would call, Carolyn.” How did she know? Maybe because she knew God would be working on me about the incident…which he did. I am so thankful for those who corrected me…but especially, those who did so with gentleness and in a loving manner. (And it was not always easy to respond to me in that kind of gentleness…in fact, quite often…it must have been very hard to do on their part. I did have a hard head…still do, I think…at least a bit.) Thank you for your post that served to remind me how blessed I have been to have people who loved me enough to make me face my weaknesses and failures…with love. 🙂 P.S. I just LOVE your posts, Katie!!!
Absolutely!
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thank you hairstyles! Just learning how to do this. I do have a subscribe button set up now
That’s great! There is a subscribe button now. Just learning how to see all the comments, sorry I didn’t respond earlier
you can! I hope you get my response though! So sorry, just learning how to respond to comments.