Part
of the reason that this is so difficult is because I bought into the lie –
saying “No” makes me less of
or a bad Christian, friend, mom, daughter, church member… whatever you put
in the blank. And, oftentimes, it seemed
those were the words I would hear from those I said “No” to, which just
confirmed what I was already thinking.
“A good friend would loan me the money that
I need…”
Or
“How can you call yourself a Christian when
you won’t commit to
leading this group?”
Or any other infinite number of
examples. A lady was telling me just the
other day that she had to start telling her extended family that she would be
unable to drive them places after 10:00pm because she was falling asleep at the
wheel on the way home or on the way to work early the next morning!
My point is that
somewhere along the way, taking care of yourself and your family, being
healthy, became selfish, especially in some “Christian” circles.
And then we guilt ourselves (or allow others to do so) into running ourselves
ragged doing things that we shouldn’t! Not to mention the anger and resentment
that can build when we begin giving out of our guilt.
So, we should be
kind and giving and care for one another.
We should love others and help whenever we can. But, I also think that we should be doing
these things out of an attitude of compassion and care, not guilt and
resentment. Get enough rest. Spend time with your kids. Have a bit of fun. And,
in the midst of that, give, care, and help.
