All the Days of Her Life

She does him good, and not harm,all the days of her life. ~ Proverbs 31:12

For years we have taught her daughter that "all the days of her life" included the years before her marriage. Recently, I saw the other end of the spectrum played out for me. My mom recently joined a local church here and before joining, she had to give her testimony and tell a little bit about her family. Now that my dad is dead, she could've easily told about all the ills she suffered because of him, but she didn't. She didn't spill any of it (and believe me, there's plenty to tell). Not only was it not necessary, it would've been wrong.

Americans have the bad habit of "airing their dirty laundry" too often and in too much detail. Don't misunderstand, there are times and places when it is appropriate to share your burdens with fellow believers, but more often than not, we're just defending ourselves & making a case for our "side" rather than letting God take care of us. Every family has problems. Every parent messes up their kids in one way or another. Every married person hurts their spouse in one way or another. Guess what....if you come from a "dysfunctional" family, you're not special. Even the church itself is largely dysfunctional. We live in a fallen world and are still suffering from the effects of sin in our bodies and in our spirits.

I believe it's time to let go of a lot of anger and bitterness to which we have been clinging like a child with a favorite blanket. It's time to quit blaming the way that we are on someone else. Take ownership for our own problems and move on. If you need to complain to someone, complain to God and leave your problems there. God's strength is made perfect in weakness, but we can never realize that strength in our own lives if we don't accept our own weaknesses and failures.....as someone from my younger days used to say "Every tub sits on its own bottom"....meaning we're responsible for our own lives and our reactions to others ;)