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December 19, 2008

Fighting For My Rights

God has been speaking to me lately about giving up my rights.
The right to be appreciated, the right to be right, the right to have my life be perfect.
I have been reading Nancy Leigh Demoss' book, "Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free" . The morning that we went to get our Christmas pictures printed out I read chapter 3 where she talked about the lie, "I have my rights." God really spoke to me (again) about how many times I get uptight and upset because I think that it is 'my right' to do so. I find myself daily fighting this lie.
And this particular day was no exception. After we picked up our Christmas family photo prints, I was disappointed when I looked at them and saw the color was so horrible that almost everyone in our family looked like they had red hair. Immediately my fight for my rights flared up. I had paid for these, my little home printer did better, I should bring them back....... And then I remembered the life lesson that God has been teaching me, the lie that I HAVE MY RIGHTS. I then told Mark that it was a good thing that I had read what I had this morning because now I could put it into practice. So we just left it and started sending out the cards. Later I had talked to a friend who had also had similar problems with her pictures in a different store. We came to the conclusion that it is only a picture, and that they will probably end up being thrown out anyway after awhile.
But I find that so many things that I 'fight' for are so meaningless in the end. In eternity they are not really going to matter. Even though I can justify it in my mind, I need to ask myself the question more often, "Am I reflecting Christ in my attitude and my actions?" I am sorry to say that many times the answer is no. With my family, friends, acquaintances and even perfect strangers I fail. But I am thankful that God's mercies are new every morning and that when we come humbly to Him He offers us another chance. And I hope that one day I learn to stop and think before I demand 'my rights.
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit,
but in lowliness of mind
let each esteem others better than himself.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests,
but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2:1-4

5 comments:

Laura said...

Great post!

Here Arthur & I sit at the computer, with Christmas cards we just printed off.(we are so far behind) In a few minutes Elizabeth and I are heading out the door to go to Staples...in hopes they can print our card BETTER, meaning the color. I already have a feeling our home printer will do just as well. Seeking perfection...sigh*

Thank you for a reminder that it's only a card...that was just a "tiny" nugget of what I obtained from your post, THANK YOU!

Laura said...

How silly forgot to say...LOVE THE PICTURES!!!!!

What an awesome idea!!!

Dianna said...

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! Another year is passing with good blogging friends who played a special part in our lives! Thank you

Dianna said...

p.s btw this gotta be one of the coolest Christmas cards or family pic. I've seen! Love it! totally love it~

Chris and Nettie Pauls said...

That is a great Christmas card!! I wish I was that creative.

Thanks for the words of wisdom.

Hope your family will recover soon from the flu (I only have 3, but they seem to all get it when one has it and this has been a bad year for the flu it seems to last). Will be praying for you.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!!