When was the last time someone found fault
in something you said or did?
What was your response?
Were you offended?
“Great peace have they that love HIS law
and nothing will offend them.”
Psalm 119:165
Life is full of criticisms, comparisons and judgements. We live in an insecure world of increasing unknowns and the plight to be the best, have the best, have the most knowledgeable and educated kids, and be a person of position and authority is the central exercise… whatever the sacrifice. How do we measure up to everyone else??
Whether we are functioning out of right or wrong motives, the goal of learning to respond correctly to life’s situations is often neglected in our teaching. Taking up offense for someone else or being personally offended is more common place.
If you are a mom, Pilates instructor, Pastors wife, or… the temptation to follow the crowd (the podcasters, the pundits, the newsmongers) and its opinion is always hounding our path. Being discerning enough to recognize the difference between the worldly and spiritual perspective regarding offenses is forever the challenge. They have become so synchronized!
One offers peace, the other chaos!
As discerning moms, which means we are taking the time to see through the surface problem (when offended, insulted, or slighted), to a possible root cause, enables us to understand the why things happen from the decisions being made by us and the choices our children are electing.
“Discernment is the power to interpret what we see and hear.”
Oswald Chambers
When teaching our little prince and princesses to avoid being hurt when affronted and instructing them not to be afraid to stand alone and respond correctly, we use the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, hands , mind and heart to increase their ability to make right choices…which gives us lots of teaching moments! Focusing on building good character and meeting our child’s deeper needs brings peace, instead of conflict.
Let’s commit ourselves this week to ask more questions,
to not judge too harshly and to look for understanding
the deeper reason why things are happening around us…
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
