Leading Gently
My daughter thinks I should have entitled this post, Don’t Be a Karen. Regardless of the title, I hope the message comes across. We are called to lead with gentleness just like Christ leads us. We are not called to tyranny.
Have you noticed that since the pandemic hit, there’s a lot more people telling you how to live and what you should or shouldn’t do? Most of their words are not meant to inform but to coerce you into doing things their way. Have you also caught onto all of the veiled threats? I have, as threats are not a tactic I am enthusiastic about nor one I like to employ.
When someone tries to use their influence, authority, or voice to try and force me to do something instead of appealing to my intellect and allowing me to choose, they immediately lose the battle. Why? Because, I stop listening.
It’s why I parent my kids the way I do. I lay it all out for them: the facts, pros and cons, the known and possible outcomes, and then I give them life examples. I do all of this so that they have what they need to make a wise decision. Do they always choose wisely? No, but I give them the tools and the instruction manual they need and then allow them to make up their own minds.
As a loving parent it’s my job to train them not to control them. My mission is to equip them with Knowledge and where to find it. Only they can choose what to do with the knowledge I give them.
Do I want my children to make wise and safe decisions? Absolutely! Do I want them to make the right decision in each circumstance? By all means! But hear me out. I don’t always know what the right decision is for them, only God does.
My children also have free will, they have independent spirits, and their very own lives to live. Though it’s hard to let go and to stand back, I don’t ever want my kids to make a life decision because they felt forced, pressured, or threatened by me. I want them to have freedom in my love for them, just like I have freedom in Christ.
God, being a good father gives us all we need to make wise choices. Everything we need we have already been given. We have a tried and true textbook, keys to the Kingdom, a Savior, Teacher, and Counselor. But each one of us as an individual must choose how we utilize the tools given to us.
Will we take it as it was intended surrendering our lives completely to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Will we see it as a great story but give it no precedence in our Daily Walk? Will we dismiss it altogether laughing at the notion of it even being true? Whatever we decide, it’s our choice. God gave us free will and even though He could have demanded that we see things His way, He allows us to choose. Now our choices do have consequences (good and bad) and they are clearly laid out in His Word, but we have been given the freedom to choose our own course.
But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then CHOOSE today whom you will serve…..
Joshua 24:15a (NLT)
We have the privilege to choose whom we serve and we choose this daily by the way we live our lives. While we are free to choose who is ultimately in control of our lives, we are not free from the consequences of those actions. May we choose wisely.
But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15b (NKJV)
