Mean Girls

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
I Pet 3:9

Girls can be mean. I knew it as a teenager. I feel it even more now as a Mom. This past weekend, Abi was invited to a slumber party. She had to decline because we had family plans. Before I go on with the story, I have to tell you, none of my kids are perfect (mind you, this is the same kid who in a previous devotion broke her toe kicking her brother). Yet this weekend she “walked the talk”. Late Friday night she received a text from her “friends” at the slumber party telling her, “You have a large zit and you are ugly.” Without consulting me, Abi simply texted back, “I think you are beautiful. But I don’t get my security from what others think. I get that from God.” After the fact, she calmly read me the texts without a hint of anger towards those girls.

I am pretty sure I would not have reacted the same when I was twelve years old. But Abi could because she remembered peace and security come from God. She knows she is called to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer (James 1:22)…and not just when it is easy to do so. On the other hand, my first flesh-filled, moma-bear thought was to give those girls a good “talking to” and spend any amount of money on pimple cream to protect her. However as Francis Chan (Forgotten God) says “I think we could all agree living according to our sinful flesh is not what is intended for children of God. Yet even so, we often choose to face life’s issues and circumstances in exactly the same way as someone without the Spirit of God”. Chan goes on to say when we do this “ whether consciously or not, we essentially say to God, ‘I know you raised Christ from the dead; but the fact is my problems are just too much for you and I need to deal with them by myself.’”

On this day, Abi chose not to live by her flesh and relied on something much better than pimple cream for her protection. In the midst of her hurt, Abi had a choice. She chose to trust God by not repaying evil for evil, and she was blessed for it (1 Pet 3:9). She remembered her value to Him far exceeds the opinion of any other person on this earth. As she went to school on Monday, she was bombarded with apologies from all those girls; and she found out that a kind word really does turn away wrath (Prov 15:1). Her obedient faith, tested by trials really is more precious than gold (1 Pet 1:6-9). Once again, I find my faith, my walk with the Lord challenged by the children God has blessed me to raise. Trust and obey… really is the only way.

Prayer- Father, Your Word is truth. A mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace (Rom 8:6) and obeying You is always the best choice in any circumstance. Oh, Lord as I go through the day and encounter others; help me to react in the Spirit and not in my flesh. Thank you for loving me with an unending perfect love… and loving my children even more than I do. May I do all I can to point them to your faithful, wise, instruction. Amen.