What Does It Look Like to Live Forward?
This is part of a larger discussion, but let me open it with the idea of what it looks like to “live forward.”
As a whole, we live in a world that’s divided, and we accept that as today’s norm. That’s not God’s desire for us.
He’s told us to live together in unity, to love one another, and to lay down our lives for each other. He’s told us to remove the plank from our own eye before trying to take one out of someone else’s. We see admonitions like this throughout His Word.
God has also told us a house divided can’t stand, and history has proven it. TRUTH: We can hold differences of opinion, still love one another, and maintain healthy relationships.
Living forward can dramatically change the future our families and our nation are headed. It starts with each of us laying down the need to be right, heard, vindicated, etc., and relies on us living forward, walking in love as He has loved us.
We can’t change the past, but we can learn from it, and we can choose differently as we intentionally live forward in love and forgiveness. If we don’t, we’re going to see cycles, including civil war, continue to be repeated.
What does it look like to live forward?This question dropped into my heart a couple of weeks ago, and it’s stayed with me.
I think it’s safe to say there are things in the past that each of us would love to change if we could. While we can’t go back and relive it, making different choices than we did previously, we can intentionally choose actions and words that touch today and create a framework for what can become a different future.
Notice I said “can,” not “will.”
It’s easy to create a storyline in our minds of how things will unfold, but that’s almost guaranteed to become a work of fantasy, rather than non-fiction, because we don’t get to determine how our new choices will be received by others or how they’ll react or respond.
I’m not walking out “living forward” perfectly, and I’m figuring it out as I go. Only time will tell if it bears fruit. That said, here are some things I feel are important - a lot more could be said about each point.
- Listen - to the Holy Spirit and to the other person.
- Own your mistakes and ask the other person’s forgiveness.
- Forgive if you’ve been asked.
- Don’t take false responsibility. If others are trying to take false responsibility related to you, help them let that go.
- Live by your convictions while also walking in love.
- Let go of expectations of the other person or how you feel things should be now.
- Live out what God has shown you and be consistent in it.
Living forward begins in our families – they are the building blocks. Start there. Lay down your offenses. Fight for one another, rather than against. Live according to your convictions and respond in love.
If we keep letting the world guide us in this, the path is one that leads directly to the decimation of families and to war, and there’s a very planned agenda for each.
As dire as that sounds, look at history and repeated cycles.
We can create a different future. It starts with each of us.
How will you live forward today? What steps can you take?
Living for Him,
Andrea
Scripture References: Psalm 133:1, John 13:34-35, John 15:13, Matthew 7:3-5, Matthew 12:25, Ephesians 5:2, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, Leviticus 19:18, James 1:19, Romans 12:18
Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
0 Comments