Love and Respect

Please note that this post will be "religious" in nature, so if you aren't into this sort of thing, stop reading here. However, if your curiosity is still piqued, then read on...

Last night, I had a bit of a squabble with my mom over the phone. Now it doesn't matter what was said or what had happened. All you need to know was that I was being stubborn and childish and being an all around brat. My mother wasn't letting me get away with said behaviour, and after the inital call where I went about being a tiny bit selfish, she called back to tell me so. Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag...

Well needless to say, I yelled back at her. I felt that I was being inconvienenced and misunderstood, and all she could do was nag at me. Ephsians 6:4 kept on coming to mind:

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

Thus, I felt justified by my behaviour. However, I did was I was told and went over to my mom's place, as she had requested.

I still felt unsettled last night and this morning. During my daily Bible readings, I ran across this from Oswald Chambers. The first sentence really spoke to me:

"When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must "walk in the light" of that vision."

Well, that really spoke to me. Instead of throwing Ephesians 6:4 in my mom's face, I should be doing what it says a couple of senteneces before in the same passage (Ephesians 6:2-3).

" "Honor your father and mother." This is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And this is the promise: If you honor your father and mother, "you will live a long life, full of blessing." "

Regardless of how my mother may have been communicating with me, it's not my job to throw Ephesiams 6:4 in her face. It's my job to follow Ephesians 6:2. And therein lies the rub.

Now you all may be wondering why I'm even writing about this. My mother certainly doesn't know this passage in the Bible, she isn't Christian. However, one of my resolustions for 2006 to learn to love and respect my parents more. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a horrible person to my parents, nor have my parents been total orge to me. They've be very patient, generious and loving through the years, and I've tried my best to be a good daughter.

Thus, it all comes down to attitude, and my attitude sometimes is less then stellar. Case in point, last night phone call. This has been a subtle message that God's been hinting at me that I've been ignoring for a very long time. Sometimes it takes a little lesson in humility from God to see my erroneous ways, and get me back on track.