Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Mean Girls - Lynn Cowell


Of course, reading the title of this devotion I just had to laugh. All I could think of was the movie a certain actress was in and all the scenes of teenagers behaving like jungle animals. Yeah, I giggled.

Let's tuck in though and explore. k?

“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Colossians 3:8

So, Lynn talks about how she was caught showing a spirit of judgement and how her teenage daughter called her out. Think back to the times you may have said something, off hand, that you didn't think was all that bad, but that would have made the person you said it about, uncomfortable.

I know I've done this. Looked at another woman and taken stock of her...from my own judgement. I make this judgement because it's what I've done with my friends, it's what I've been conditioned to think is ok to do. Why do we teach our children to judge? Why do we show them that it's ok to make nasty comments? Working with the little kids, we have rules about loving each other, every action that is not loving garners a warning and then a time out if it continues. One of the things that they're not allowed to do because it is not loving is make fun of other kids. It's behavior modification, fine, but it's also teaching them that they can not judge people by what they look like, wear or say. That's not loving and that's not what God wants from us.

So why do I do it as an adult? It looks like I need that reminder more often that it's not something I need to be doing. I do catch myself slipping sometimes. I've heard B tell me more than once to stop. How did we get to a point that it just became part of us? There's a very interesting woman that has a couple videos on TED.com. She's an activist for many causes, though I don't think our political values coincide, I know that much of what she says is so true about the way society has become. Morally, we're looking in the same direction. She has a video about how we have taken away our "girl cell" (as she called it), it's compassion, love, emotions and empathy (among other things) Being a man, boy or woman means NOT being a girl. The tender heart and almost naive love for everyone. We've been taught to be strong and not show our emotions, to judge people that do.

How do we change this? We start by giving those judgmental ways to God. We lay them at the cross and ask him to change us, not other people. Us. We allow ourselves to feel our emotions and the love we innately have for other human beings...even if that means we hurt more.

Abba, I'm so sorry for taking the mind you gave me and altering what you would have me be to fit into what the world says I should be. Help me to love without bounds, to accept without conditions. To see people, the way you see them. Amen.

Been a little hard on yourself?

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