The last two weeks have been very eventful in our home. My husband and I went on a vacation and get this…we left all the kids at home. Yeah. We did. I left my house to a bunch of young women, all busy, all strong and expected them to take care of themselves and not trash the place. You know what happens when six young women from 23 to 14 years old are left to their own devices and their own communication skills????? Wonderful stuff. Did they disagree? Yep. Did they get on each other’s nerves? Absolutely. Did they say stuff they shouldn’t have? Uh huh. Did they apologize and make it right? Yes they did. All that BEFORE I came home on Saturday night.
Has forgiveness worked its way all the way through their hearts yet? Not yet, but it’s working. They all love each other and know that we are a family no matter what so they are letting their hearts heal. I am so proud of my girls. They stepped up and took care of each other the way the Bible says they should. The Bible doesn’t say that once you are a Christ follower you will never sin again, or struggle with the words that come out of your mouth. It says that we can learn to keep our tongues from saying things that will hurt other people.
How can a young person keep their way pure?
By living according to your Word.
Psalm 119:9
Have you noticed that sometimes you go along and it seems easy to keep control of your words and sometimes, usually when you are tired or hungry or sleepy, something hits you the wrong way and you snap. Something comes out of your mouth you wish you could take back immediately…but it’s too late. Once those words come out of your mouth, you can’t take them back.
That’s what happened last week in my house. One of my daughters had played 6 soccer games in two weeks and was tired, sore and hurt. On top of that, her team lost the championship game and she was disappointed. One of my daughters is a fixer, a look on the bright side kind of girl. Nothing wrong with either girl, but the two were on a collision course. I had no longer gotten the words out of my mouth to my oldest daughter to keep the two of them apart (for their own good) than one hurt the other and the other hurt right back. Hurting people, hurt people. That has been a hard lesson for my girls this week, but I am so proud of them for trying to put their relationship back together. It has affected the whole family. Their words and actions didn’t only hurt them, it touched us all.
What if someone, say an unbeliever, heard what my daughters said to one another? What would that have done to their witness? What would that person think about the God that my girls serve? In the book of James 1:26 the Bible says this,
“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
Ouch!!! That hurts just to read. Our actions reflect on Jesus. Our actions reflect on our Father. My daughters had to tell their parents about the argument and harsh words. Their words reflected on the way we have tried to raise them. Their reaction to be quick to forgive and ask forgiveness was very much what we have tried to teach them. The only way I know if they have learned their lesson is during times like these when they have to live out LOVE for themselves. Yes, my girls hurt each other. Yes, they knew what to do to begin fixing the hurt. YES, they LOVE each other enough to try. I’m a proud mom.
So how are we to talk the talk and walk the walk? Micah 6:8 says this, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To ACT Justly and to LOVE Mercy and to WALK Humbly with your God.”
You may have heard songs using this verse. Here are a couple of my favorites:
http://youtu.be/pkM-gDcmJeM Courageous by Casting Crowns
http://youtu.be/-Ja3O0VVCAM The Walk by Steven Curtis Chapman
So after all this, what really matters? If you are gonna talk the talk you better be ready to walk the walk. If you say you believe in Jesus and that you love one another, you had better be ready to put that love into action. It’s not enough just to SAY it, we have to ACT it out. Let the world catch you acting like Jesus. That is the best role model you could ever show them. Sure we are going to mess up. We aren’t perfect. But in that imperfection, we show the world how to turn and ask for forgiveness, love each other the way Christ loved us and then they will want what we have…a WALK that truly shows the LOVE in our hearts.
Let’s Pray: Dear Father, We come to you today to thank you for your example. For being very clear about what it is you want for us and from us. You have shown us what is good and what you require of us. Lord, teach us to keep a tight rein on our tongues so we won’t hurt one another. Help us to be sensitive when we mess up and do hurt someone. Help us to make it right quickly, so the damage is not severe. Lord, we thank you for your Word that teaches us how to live. We want to live so that the world will want a WALK like we have. Talk is cheap, but the proof of your love is in our walk. We love you, Lord. AMEN (z)
Choose today to let your tongue bring healing to those around you. Choose LIFE with your words. I love you.
Mama T
For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.
If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.
