CWW Week 16 - Day 1 - God In The Family
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Joshua 24:15
‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’
Devotional.
We continue today to unpack the Resolution commitment with the seventh principle of manhood.
“I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.”
We begin week sixteen with part two of Resolution God in the family.
Principle six should be a no brainer but is it?
Have you found that there is a marked lack kindness, respect and compassion in todays dog eat dog world?
I have dear friends in Tasmania who are starting a new blended family. As they navigate the perils of a new relationship and the coming together of two families one might ask, “What could possibly go wrong?”
To hold it all together in the all too important formative phase, my mate has set a strong boundary that should be engraved on everyones front door.
“Anyone is welcome so long as the treat all in the house with kindness and respect.” That works for me. But lets look at how we get this wrong in the new digital age. We have lost the art of social intercourse as we retreat into the anonymous world of digital communication and social media.
On the social media platforms we frequent all to often, we see the paranoia and fractured opinions of others pour out like toxic bile from the dungeons of the minds of key board warriors. Character assassination when done under an alias seems to engender a certain power in many.
As we see every person with a keyboard elevated to the stature of a High Court Judge, kindness, respect and compassion are no where to be seen.
As I navigate this space, I have realised that so many of these illustrious and anonymous social media giants are lacking in the very things we are talking about. Frustrated by a lack of real social connection and feeling isolated, it’s almost as if they have lost the ability to care or respect others.
Michelle and I once conducted a weekend workshop for four lovely young men from our church in their early twenties. They had come to us concerned at the lack of respect they were displaying to each other. They asked us to put together a weekend program to help them restore their friendship.
We set a couple of rules at the beginning after they arrived. They had to turn off their mobile phones for the entire weekend and they could only check their phone once for thirty minutes at 3pm on the Saturday.
They agreed and as the time rolled around they hurriedly grabbed their phones and headed off to different rooms to check their messages.
As Michelle and I were preparing the evening meal in the kitchen we noticed Jordon feverishly texting on his phone. “Is that your girl friend?” I asked. “No I’m texting Jason.” he replied. “Which Jason? Not Jason who’s sitting in the living room?” “Yes that Jason.”
“Why don’t you just go and sit with him and chat?” I was stunned when he said that they could be more personal by texting!
This is what has become of us. We feel safe with a digital barrier in our relationships. We can cut it off when ever we become bored with the communication such as it is.
Nothing says I respect you more than sitting with someone you care about and looking them in the eye as you listen with intent to what they have to say. It is a gift to be heard and a wonder to be comprehended.
Satan sure has worked this out to his advantage. Hiding in a digital cave we find courage that is not sustainable. Our character development is stifled and our spiritual growth is compromised.
Too often people say that they have prayed for me. I would love to have heard their prayer and returned the privilege but the ease of digital isolation and the lack of quality time is all too pervasive.
As I navigate the so called Freedom Community I am struck by the lack of freedom it affords those in the group who may disagree with one another. I am often roundly castigated because I mention God too much. “I am not interested in what you have to say if you continue with that rubbish.” Freedom means that anyone is entitled to a point of view without being labelled with an offensive title.
Clearly we are struggling as a society with a lack of sincere prayer and an absence of kindness, respect and compassion.
Compassion means loving someone you may not like knowing that the behaviour you dislike is probably fuelled by a deep seated pain you are unaware of in that person.
When we apply this principle we clearly change the climate of relationships and the communities that grow in them.
Questions.
- How do you feel when someone respects you enough to hear what you have to say?
- Have certain habits crept into your life that are making you anti-social?
- What are you prepared to do to bring kindness, respect and compassion into your relationships?
Prayer.
Dear Lord, Papa God.
I hunger to live in a world with kindness, respect and compassion knowing that I can help to create it if I surrender to your will. Papa I yearn to make you the priority knowing that in so doing that my character will reflect Yours as I grow in your mercy and grace.
This I pray in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Graham Hood.
