Family Alive

I had a great morning reading in my all-time favorite devotional, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. (sidenote: I like the way my book reads because it’s an updated edition, but the truth is still the same.)  Beautiful, powerful words from 2 Corinthians 5:21…

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that we might be the righteousness of God.

Love that.  What a glorious thought!  It was a great way to start my day.

Then Brian and I got in an argument over something stupid.  I snapped, he snapped… you know how it goes.  And before I knew it, I went from being clothed in the righteousness of God to my same old sinful self.  And I’ve been fighting a bad mood all morning thinking of how quickly the conversion from Spirit-filled to self-filled happens.  It’s heart-breaking.

Brian and I are supposed to go out to dinner this evening, and Grandma Beverly is keeping the kids. And instead of looking forward to it, I’m finding excuses that we’ve got too much to do, that we won’t be in the mood to appreciate it.

And the enemy is loving it.  He’s watching and loving the fact that he snuck into my Spirit-filled morning and found a weakness.  And now he’s doing everything he can to use the splinter of the morning’s argument to pull us apart.  There’s nothing he’d like more than to see the God’s sacred union of marriage be weakened.  The little splinters add up, and before you know it, the enemy is rejoicing at the rift he’s caused.

So gosh darn it, we’re going out tonight, and we’re gonna like it!  We’re going to take our gift card, have an awesome dinner, enjoy being together, and pull ourselves closer together.  We’ll forgive and  heal, and claim the victory for the One who called us to these verses 7 years ago:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)