I was so gently reminded of this from our oldest boy a few nights ago, as I lectured the brothers on how they had not been making many good choices that day. Ouch. That's hard to hear when it's not coming from my own mouth.
I can tend to be pretty hard on myself, not real quick to have grace for this soul of mine. Sometimes I feel like I'm not that good at anything. One little failure, or some way that I'm not measuring up, can set me into a downward spiral that has the potential to ruin a whole day. I can get embarrassed easily and I can tend to shy away from things that take me out of my comfort zone. And I am beginning to see these things in my son...
I am learning that the apple truly does not fall too far from the tree, even at the young ages of our boys. They do the things we do. In many ways, they tend toward the weaknesses that plague us and are passionate about the things we're passionate about.
The other night I was brought comfort & hope about this very subject when we were reading our Lenten devotional and it was out of John 15. I was reminded of the pruning. Unless we allow the Lord to work with us, to cut off the "dead branches," we cannot bear fruit. Or at least we will not bear fruit at the quality that we could and should. The painful process of dealing with my "stuff" will yield good fruit...
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control.Each day I can come closer to exhibiting these qualities, to yielding this fruit, if I let myself be pruned. Be reminded that I am not #1. Be reminded that even though that's true as far as how I should live, God still loves me as if I am his #1. Learn to give grace freely, to others and to myself. Release the attempts to control all that surrounds me.
If I remain in the vine, pressing deeper into the Lord, I can trust that He will not prune branches that don't need to go. He doesn't put me through something painful just because. He always has purpose in what he allows. He can heal all my hurts and turn my weakness into strength. He can make something beautiful appear from mere stumps.
It is hard to watch my child begin to look a bit like me. It's hard to watch his strongholds appear. But as I do, I am determined more and more to show him the love of our Savior, and our desperate need to remain in Him. I am determined to help him learn to overcome his weaknesses--as I am learning--and to allow the pruning, so that he can bear beautiful fruit.
"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be more fruitful...Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine." ~John 15:2,4
Love this. Thanks so much, Em.
ReplyDeleteMy heart's been there, too, lately. So hard to watch our oldest struggle with some of our same weaknesses and false idol tendencies. We've had some dramatic moments around here with him that cut so close to our own hearts. Such tough waters to tread through.
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