If I had known her address, I’d have sent her flowers yesterday. She needed them; she deserved them; and she had earned them.
Who was she? The recipient of scolding, harsh words, and empty pat expressions to a simple comment she had put on social media. She had joined the conversation in response to a seemingly “angry-mob-inciting poll” that appeared to have been strategically placed there by a mutual acquaintance of ours.
I did not participate. I was merely reading it after the fact while scanning this particular social media site for a few moments after lunch. Because we are not connected in any way other than this, I sent her a private message of comfort and kindness that I hope she will open and read—in spite of not knowing me at all.
This poor, dear, gracious, now-verbally degraded young mom simply replied that her family cannot be out and about yet because of a health condition her child has. She was called names by some; others scolded her lack of faith; still others left anyone reading the post feeling that her status as a mom had plummeted due to her response.
And it broke my heart.
Enough to wake up and pray for her, by name, this morning.
Enough to get me wondering what possible motivation moms, grandmas, and other women of all ages could have for berating one of their own.
Enough to cause me to pray that my motives are and will be aligned with the heart of God.
Enough to blog about it today.
But that took me further down the road to the next step: Is my need for control a motive I cannot even see because the underlying impetus for my words and actions is, in actuality, my own pride?
Why, in this time of our nation’s great need and our world’s great uncertainties, must we be the ones to yell the loudest, criticize the most, judge with little information, and condemn those whose choices are outside of our sphere of comfort?
Being the one to change everyone’s minds or to share the most shocking post will bring no extra credit in heaven. In fact, our Lord, in His gracious love for us—despite our often-impure motives, our unacknowledged need for control, and our attempts to shame others into our way of thinking—tells us this:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27, ESV).
In my time of prayer this morning, I had to confess many infractions to the above thoughts. So please, know that this is written by one who is not in turn condemning those not doing things my way or those not thinking how I think.
No, it was written by one who woke this morning, grateful for the loving, strong words of Scripture and for the reminder that we all have been granted new mercies this morning to love as God loves us.
Lord, help me to do the work You have given me to do, not to spend my time, energy, and efforts trying to make others do their work my way! (See John 17:4 for Christ’s example of focusing on God’s work for Him to do.)
There are many, many more, but here are a few additional Scripture verses regarding the comments above:
*Our choice of words: Psalm 19:14
*Our motives (and God’s way of pointing them out to us): Hebrews 4:12
*Our love as a testimony of grace: 1 John 4:19-21