Stand Fast part 4
Some people aren't ready for freedom. That's just a plain and simple fact. And, listen, don't judge them too harshly. People know what they've experienced. A lot of times it goes all the way back to those cruical formative years. Which is why I love Proverbs 22:6 so much, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Which--especially in the context of standing fast in the liberty that Christ has given to us--means training up a child to be free. I completely agree with and believe that strict parents produce sneaky kids. I would much rather have open discussion and honesty... an environment of grace and mercy and truth... than think everything is ok because that's how it looks on the surface but in reality nothing is ok. Freedom is messy, I think is what I'm trying to say. And that's ok. Life is not paint by numbers. Life is messy. You can't control it a lot of the time. Most of the time the best you can do is keep control of yourself in whatever situation you find yourself in. Freedom isn't free. But it is priceless. And, even though the Word of God (which is Jesus, which is love) has already set us free and made us free, it's also a process. When the people of Israel came out of bondage they NEEDED the Ten Commandments. Because they didn't know how to live. All they knew was slavery. All they knew was doing what they were told. And, yes, they went ahead and abused their freedom. That will happen. But just because freedom can (and will) be abused doesn't mean there is a better alternative. Just because people don't understand or agree with what you're doing... that doesn't necessarily make it wrong. It might be wrong for THEM, but that's fine. They don't have to do it. Drinking, for example. It's legal. You can do it if you're 21 or older. But that doesn't mean everybody should do it. And even though I personally believe nothing good comes from it and nobody should do it... it's not my place to enforce my beliefs on anybody else. The best I can do is train my kid up to understand what it is--and what it isn't--and make my own decisions about how I'M going to handle drinking in my life. Which is to say, not doing it. Myself. On a personal level. You don't have to agree with someone else's way of life. Because it's THEIR way of life. Unless it is harmful to you... don't worry about it. I'll protect my family to the ends of the earth. But if you want to drink, and you're not hurting anybody (except maybe yourself), hey... to each his own. And if people aren't ready for freedom... don't try to force it on them either. Again--it's a process. Learning and growing. Understanding what freedom means. What we can do... and what we should do. So don't try to force people to agree with you. Don't try to create little clones of yourself. Let people be who they are--even if who they think they are at the moment isn't who they really are. Let people take their journey. And trust GOD to bring them through. Trust GOD to do what HE wants to do. It's not your job to change people. It's your job to love people. So just do that. Use YOUR freedom to love people. Even if they don't understand THEIR freedom.