When I was 17, my faith and relationship with God became my own. I was no longer simply following the rules that my mother had taught me.
A family friend gave my name to the youth pastor of a local church and said that I might be interested in attending their youth group. Two weeks later, I started attending their youth group. Over the next few months, my faith became my own, and it was no longer just my mother's. I continued to learn and grow, which translated into the things I learned about God going from "head knowledge" to "heart knowledge." Meaning that it was no longer simply information like you get from a textbook in school. It translated into something I believed in my heart then and even more so now.
Fast forward 13 years to the present. Last week, hubby and the Holy Spirit corrected me and informed me that I had reverted to "head knowledge" and needed to get back on track toward "heart knowledge." It was not a pleasant conversation, but important, and needed nonetheless. Holy Spirit had been nudging me for a few days, but I wasn't listening. So, He brought in reinforcements through hubby and finally got the message across. Guess you could say I'm a little stubborn. Okay, a lot stubborn. I wasn't walking the walk as much as I was talking the talk. Thank you, Lord, for giving me a godly husband who leads me back to You when I wander off course.
The other evening, I was visiting with some old ministry friends. I shared about how hubby had corrected me. How I needed/deserved it but didn't like it in the process. The husband of the couple I was visiting with said how it's always uncomfortable when we are being convicted of our sins. His wife then added something about it being hard but good to be corrected by our spouses. Or something to that effect. The moral of the story is that it's always best to be corrected by our loving spouses rather than other people. I am so thankful for my husband and all the things he does for me. Including calling me out on my crap when needed.
As hubby was correcting me and telling me what I needed to do, I felt the Holy Spirit say, "Head to heart." It brought me back to all those years ago when my faith became my own. When it went from, "head knowledge" to "heart knowledge." He reminded me that I needed to get back on track with walking out what I read in my Bible and not let it simply be "head knowledge" like it had been recently. I told hubby what the Holy Spirit had told me and agreed that I needed to get back to walking out my faith and not just believing it in my head.
Today, God allowed me to love like Jesus and speak the truth in love to a dear friend. We disagree on an important topic. Not a friendship-ending topic, but important nonetheless. In the past, I have either spoken with unkind words towards this topic or went along with the other person's opinion to simply keep the peace. Neither is helpful. Today, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I was able to respectfully and lovingly say that I do not agree with these "choices" but that I still love the person and that agreeing to disagree is a part of life. Despite a few awkward moments, it felt pretty great to be able to handle this situation and topic the way that Jesus calls me to.
So, friend. Is Holy Spirit speaking to you and calling you out on your crap too?
I pray this post finds you well and blesses you in whatever way you need it to tonight.
God Bless
~Hannah
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