There was a certain woman that lost sight of her own shortcomings, even her sin. Every day she was busy at it, pointing out all the wrongs of her family and others. And if she didn’t get a chance to mention all the wrongs, she still stayed upset about it from the time she got up, on into the night. You know thinking about it, rolling it over and over in her mind.
She found herself replaying the fractures. It got to the point, where every conversation with her family, her kids, especially her husband started out like she had been having it non-stop. She just picked up where she left off…in her mind. Don’t get me wrong, in her heart this woman was not mean.
But her sin, she couldn’t see. She would overlook the inner sin, that only God and she knew about. The sins, like pride, even if it was spiritual pride, envy, jealousy, unkindness, gossip, selfishness…
She would pray, “God help my husband change. God help my children change. God help them stop doing this or start doing this.”
Finally, one day it dawned on her that whenever she prayed like this, Father God got very silent. In fact, things seemed to get worse. But things that she was harboring would start to surface. She would recognize pride, jealousy and more.
She came across a book called, “Lord Change Me! by Evenlyn Christenson. She ordered it and discovered Mrs. Christenson had a similar story. She gave her testimony of how caught up she was into praying for her husband.
She was always praying and trying to get the Lord to straighten her husband out. She wanted Father God to fix his problems, his shortcomings, his sin. Until finally, the Holy Spirit led her to stop praying this way.
For a season, she was instructed to only pray for the Lord to change her, fix her and help her overcome her shortcomings. She could only repent of her pride, her envy. She could ask the Lord give her more patience, grow her compassion and kindness for her family…
The woman was convicted of her wrong perspective. She repented of trying to pull the little stick out of her family’s eyes, yet leaving a big boulder in place, in her own eyes.
I encourage you married mama and single mom, don’t be weary in well doing. The seeds you are sowing in your children will grow up into a mighty harvest. They will rise up and called YOU blessed among women. The exemplary family, you are growing, rewards await you. You’re doing a great job! If you’ve relaxed into being a critical mom, you can change today. Your corrections may have made you the critic.
If you’ve succumbed to a bitter spirit, a bitter root that rose up and defiled many, Father God can still heal you where you hurt. Even if your mouth has been full of complaints instead of blessing, now is a good time to repent and change the tide of words.
For a long time, I read Mrs. Christenson’s book every year to refire my commitment to never fall into that trap again. If you feel you may be dealing with a critical spirit or even a bitter spirit, and you’ve been doing any of this here’s what you can do. Repent. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the things you need to work on. Say nothing else about the Lord helping the ones you’ve been praying for until the Holy Spirit releases you. Ask Father God to heal you and change you. Finally, say Lord change me.
Lord continue to change me,
Earma
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Earma Brown, twelve book Christian author and founder of WOW! Women Global inspires women around the world to become women of destiny, purpose, and victory through speaking engagements, her books, Bible curriculum and studies. She is author of the trilogy of Wow! Women books: Women of Worth, Women of Destiny and Women of Legacy, the Armorbearer Training Series, Prayer Fulfilled Life book set and Writing A Book God’s Way book and course. She currently lives in Arkansas.