Let It Go, Let It Go
By FamilyLife
She left her brush on the kitchen counter again; totally grosses me out.
He set the new toilet paper roll on top of the old one!
She always talks to my mom in that tone.
He was late for dinner again.
Overlooking the same old offenses is tough for a lot of reasons. We tend to think, If you really cared about me, you’d change. Or, This is just a representation of a bigger problem.
Sometimes, both of those things have validity.
But sometimes our spouses—and we—are just profoundly human. Sometimes, we’re keeping a tally, and creating a culture in our homes that demands perfection rather than gushing grace. We’re keeping that record of wrongs because it feeds that slight superiority over our spouse, gives us a reason to guard that grudge, or hands us just cause to keep our spouse at arm’s length.
But the world runs on giving us what we deserve, on insisting we perform in order to be loved.
Our homes could be different.
What would it look like to choose grace? To choose patience, tenderness? To let it go?
Leave some wiggle room for each other, some warmth around the edges. Make your family a refuge from conditional love.
FamilyLife's 30-Day Oneness Prayer Challenge is a simple tool to help you start a habit of just five minutes of praying together as a couple. If you liked today’s adapted sample devotional, sign up to experience the entire 30 days with your spouse.
The Good Stuff: Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11)
Action Points: What’s the pet peeve that rubs to the point of causing a blister? Pray about whether you need to graciously discuss the issue beneath the issue—or whether it’s time to simply let go and forgive.
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