The last two weeks have been very eventful in our home.\u00a0 My husband and I went on a vacation and get this\u2026we left all the kids at home.\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 We did.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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?????\u00a0 Wonderful stuff.\u00a0 Did they disagree?\u00a0 Yep.\u00a0 Did they get on each other\u2019s nerves?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Did they say stuff they shouldn\u2019t have? Uh huh.\u00a0 Did they apologize and make it right?\u00a0 Yes they did.\u00a0 All that BEFORE I came home on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Has forgiveness worked its way all the way through their hearts yet?\u00a0 Not yet, but it\u2019s working. They all love each other and know that we are a family no matter what so they are letting their hearts heal.\u00a0 I am so proud of my girls.\u00a0 They stepped up and took care of each other the way the Bible says they should.\u00a0 The Bible doesn\u2019t say that once you are a Christ follower you will never sin again, or struggle with the words that come out of your mouth.\u00a0 It says that we can learn to keep our tongues from saying things that will hurt other people.<\/p>\n
How can a young person keep their way pure?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n By living according to your Word.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Psalm 119:9<\/b><\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 Something comes out of your mouth you wish you could take back immediately\u2026but it\u2019s too late.\u00a0 Once those words come out of your mouth, you can\u2019t take them back.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what happened last week in my house.\u00a0 One of my daughters had played 6 soccer games in two weeks and was tired, sore and hurt.\u00a0 On top of that, her team lost the championship game and she was disappointed.\u00a0 One of my daughters is a fixer, a look on the bright side kind of girl.\u00a0 Nothing wrong with either girl, but the two were on a collision course.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Hurting people, hurt people<\/b>.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It has affected the whole family.\u00a0 Their words and actions didn\u2019t only hurt them, it touched us all.<\/p>\n What if someone, say an unbeliever, heard what my daughters said to one another?\u00a0 What would that have done to their witness?\u00a0 What would that person think about the God that my girls serve?\u00a0 In the book of James 1:26<\/strong> the Bible says this,<\/p>\n \u201cIf anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Ouch!!!\u00a0 That hurts just to read.\u00a0 Our actions reflect on Jesus.\u00a0 Our actions reflect on our Father.\u00a0 My daughters had to tell their parents about the argument and harsh words.\u00a0 Their words reflected on the way we have tried to raise them.\u00a0 Their reaction to be quick to forgive and ask forgiveness was very much what we have tried to teach them.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Yes, my girls hurt each other.\u00a0 Yes, they knew what to do to begin fixing the hurt.\u00a0 YES, they LOVE each other enough to try.\u00a0 I\u2019m a proud mom.<\/p>\n So how are we to talk the talk and walk the walk?\u00a0 Micah 6:8 says this, \u201cHe has showed you, O man, what is good.\u00a0 And what does the Lord require of you?\u00a0 To ACT Justly and to LOVE Mercy and to WALK Humbly with your God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n You may have heard songs using this verse.\u00a0 Here are a couple of my favorites:<\/p>\n http:\/\/youtu.be\/pkM-gDcmJeM<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Courageous by Casting Crowns<\/p>\n