I've been pondering about this topic for a long time. I didn't know exactly how I wanted to present it, but I think I've found my way. If it doesn't seem to flow, I give you my apologies. Between children, life, and pain in my hip that won't go away, I can get a little distracted. Aww, butterfly. J/K
Here's my topic: Who deserves your best? I want you to ponder that question for a moment. I bet you came up with a list- God, spouse, children, work, friends, etc. Here's my follow-up topic: What is your best? That question probably made you ask me - best what? As humans, we are pretty great at compartmentalizing. Who gets my best work? My job obviously. Who gets my best hugs? My family, of course. Who gets my best singing voice? God. Who gets my best attitude? Um... Who gets my best outfits? Um... Who gets my best conversation? Oh. Before I start unpacking this, let me state the following. The answer should be God. For everything. God should get our best in all things. From here on out, I will give only natural/human discussion. This topic has been weighing on me for some time. I think once parents have a two year old they figure out that the child will give their best to ANYONE else but you. I've heard it explained in a variety of ways. Typically, it comes back to the fact that we are (hopefully) their safe space and most loving humans. Kids know that they can be a jerk to us, steal our food, throw a fit, be nasty and selfish, and receive snuggles and hugs before bedtime because we love them so unconditionally. But what does that teach us as adults? I'm pretty sure I'm my worst in front of my family. I think you would say the same if you truly looked inside yourself. I can't make a scene in public, what would people think? I can't say that to my friend, they might get mad. I need to hold it together when we're out, but once we get home! Heck, if you're a mom and you haven't done the super low whisper to your child in public, are you even a real mom? I get that we want to save face, but what does that turn our home into? Think about it. Does your spouse go off to work and come home to dump- be it good or bad- to you? You are the dumping ground because you're there safe space, the no-judgment zone, and the manager in their corner. Maybe you're the stay at home parent. Your spouse walks in and you let go of all the junk that has been driving you crazy - car pool cancellation, kids being sick, out of milk at the grocery store, kids being terrors. Either way, we go, we do, we interact with people, and then when we find a safe space, we spew out all the bad. Toxicity. So who gets our best? As we compartmentalize our lives, we let people that aren't high on our chain of importance receive better treatment than those that we care about most. We play nice for strangers, and we release cancerous word vomit to our loved ones. I'm not saying we should just be jerks to everyone. That's the opposite of what I'm getting at. I'm also not saying that we should hold everything in and never deal with the junk. That's a different toxicity. There needs to be a balance. There needs to be a safe space that is safe for all. I think I feel this often. My son is complimented by people all the time. He's respectful, helpful, kind, talented, smart, the "go-to" kid. But as I've typed this, I've had to listen to him whine and cry that he can't figure out how to poke a hole in paper. PAPER. Where's my hand to face emoji?? I could step in and do it for him. I could show him how to do it. But there are so many times of this crying "I can't do this!" that I need to step back. I need to let him do this alone. I need him to learn how to solve problems. Also, he didn't ask for help. That is also something he needs to learn to do appropriately. And as he gives me his worst, I sit back and let it ring through the home. After he accomplishes it, he will have skills to be all those wonderful things for everyone else. You're welcome. That's what we do. We become these recipients of the worst. But I think what's important is our response to the worst. Do we try to fix it? Do we throw our worst back? Do we walk away from it? We need to love through it without becoming a punching bag. That's a hard task to master. As I'm working my way through loving in my best when I receive their worst, it shifts my focus to the times when I've given my worst. So how do we give our best to our loved ones in the capacity that they need it, without bottling up the bad? Now, we look back to God. We give our best to him. We worship him in our words, actions, and thoughts. As we do that, we go into prayer. Continual prayer. I love 1 Thessalonians 5:17 for telling us to "Pray without ceasing." When we are continually talking to God, do you know what happens? We tell him the bad. As we give him our best, he also gets our worst. And the best part? His shoulders can carry the weight of it. Our worst is here. It's a fallen world. Sin is everywhere. We will never leave the worst behind. There will be good, great, better, and best. There will also be bad, worse, worst. Because of our sin, God has to take the worst. He has to bear the brunt. He already did when Christ died on the cross. Every frustration and hurt has been dealt with, and always will be. When we give God our best and our worst, it opens us up to give our loved ones the second best. We can let go of the horrible and have a civil conversation. We can leave our work at work and bring in a smile. Not because we forget or ignore, but because we deal with it with the one who can handle all. I believe that's what it means when we say to give it all to God. Perhaps if we did, we could give our best all. We can work hard at our jobs and in our homes. We can laugh and joke and have meaningful conversations with coworkers, friends, family, maybe even strangers. We can hug those who need it, not just those we want to. Life can be more meaningful. Shouldn't we all be able to give our best?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI have a lot to say about a lot of things. Archives
May 2023
Categories |