When Emotions Control You ~

1 Corinthians 13:4-5  Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way.  It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. NLT

Blended families.  Hurt feelings.  Control. Getting along with people you are supposed to love.  Letting go of bitterness and resentment when you feel you’ve been singled out to be left out.  This morning, there is a total battlefield going on inside my heart.  I know better than to let these emotions harbor in my life, and yet, they rear their ugly head every now and then.

Unless you live a solitary life, you’re going to get your feelings hurt.  What you do with those feelings will play a huge impact on your life and the future of your relationships with family.  Let’s face it.  We don’t live in a world where everybody loves everybody and we all love each other.  We should, but we don’t.  There are people in our lives, and in our families, that we just cannot get along with.  As I’m struggling with these emotions this morning; the hurt, the betrayal, the feeling of being left out purposely, I felt the urge to ask myself this questions:  What part do I play in the problem? Are my feelings hurt or am I just mad because I didn’t have any control over the situation?  

I’m about to cuss, so if it offends you, skip this paragraph.  As I’m slamming cabinets and cleaning house and checking to see what was posted on Facebook (which is totally the devil’s best modern day tool), I was reminded of words my daddy said to me when I was fussing about my family one day.  He shut me up really quick with these words:  “Honey, you’ve got to realize that it’s hard to love a bitch.”   Ummmm, wow.  Isn’t that the truth, even if we don’t like it?  All of the ugly actions I can throw out there certainly will not help the situation.  Sometimes, things are just what they are.  It’s how I handle them that will give me peace in my life.  Letting these emotions fester in my heart today doesn’t hurt anybody but me.  It cannot set the tone for my household.

Today, God, I’m sorry.  I’m all out of sorts again.  Help me to remember that I cannot make people be who I want them to be.  Sometimes, I don’t like what You are showing me.  You’re working on peeling those layers off, aren’t You?  Thank You for showing me when I’m about to wreck things.  Every now and then, You just have to tell me to pump my brakes.  And once again, thank You for not giving up on me.