So much of what comes before us isn’t for us.
Maturity is knowing what’s ours and what isn’t.
It’s hearing, seeing, sensing… and then knowing what to receive and what to reject.
When practiced and applied, this will change a life, and in a rippling fashion, will change all the lives that touch it, too.
Words, labels, untruths (that can seem like truths) come flying in from all sorts of “lofty” places – loved ones, teachers, coaches, bosses, pastors, celebrities, strangers, even our own selves. When we are wise and armored, we hear those words and determine if they are well suited for our hearts before allowing them to land there or not.
Images that flash before us on screens and billboards and daydreams can likewise be assessed before they’re entertained:
Is this true? Is this helpful? Does it honor God, others, myself? Is this mine to hold and house? Does this bring life and light and healing?
If not – you push that word away, and refuse it outright. If that’s hard (and it likely will be), hand it to God. He knows what to do with it.
Then, in its steed, we take in something that is true, helpful, honoring, and ours to hold and know.
Just yesterday, as I walked back to my car at a local eatery, I ignored some odd and uncomfortable advances from a man in a nearby vehicle. As he put his truck in reverse and drove by, he yelled angry vulgarities out his window at me.
Years ago, this would have left me imploded and shaking, as I’m a sensitive soul and outbursts of this sort sting big to those types. But something had shifted. It surprised even me. I sat there for a moment, waiting for the inevitable surge of pain to engulf and tears to ignite, but they never did. Those words weren’t mine and now I knew it. The hurtful things spoken by a hurting soul are meant to be lifted to The Healer not the hearer. And so, I was able to move about my day and my life without harboring something I was never meant to house at all.
As I drove to my next appointment for the day, I thought about what WAS true of me in that loud, tense moment: I was being a faithful wife and an upright woman to not engage with a person trying to lure and disrespect. I was right to deflect the comments, no matter how enraged it made the procurer. So I received that, and thanked God for the good growth in myself that I’d just witnessed.
I can’t close this post without noting that one can do this even with things spoken over them in the past. YES! This may bring the most healing and freedom of all, friends – emotionally, spiritually, mentally, but even physically. Our bodies hold the things we suppress. Pain, illness, and all kinds of upset can ensue, as a result. Don’t hold what’s not for you in your true identity. If the word or image fit and felt true for you while acting in your false identity – then it’s still wholly and grossly false. Cast it on the Creator. It’s what we do! He told us to!
Gosh, I’m grateful for mentors who have showed me the way in this, and for recovering souls who have modeled its validity for my benefit.
May we all go forth in maturity and awareness and freedom, receiving what’s ours and rejecting what isn’t. Love to you each.
Thank you my dear Grand. Very wise words for this beginning of our new week.
Thank you, thank you! You’re a blessing to me and I love you! 🙂
Beautifully written and much needed.
Thank you Kate! I needed this so much! In the past 18 months my life has been under attack with sick and horrible lies. Lies that have been believed by many of my friends and one much loved family member. I was not meant to house this heavy burden, but to cast it on the Creator! Kate, you are a blessing!????
I am so glad it was timely for you. May peace and healing be yours in the coming months.
Thank you so much for reading!
Beautifully written beautiful truth.
So kind! Thank you Mrs. Jan! 🙂