4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Love.
Love brings us closer, it bridges two sides, it closes a gap, love involves truth, it's doing the right thing… putting aside self and selfishness and not having an agenda… instead, love is free... giving without expectation and without "deals" or keeping records. Love does not delight in evil… it does not delight in hurt, in threats or abuse of any kind, in division, in excluding, or alienation. Instead, love rejoices... it lives truth, it exudes purposeful compromise, it fosters a true desire in loving those around us.
A parent who alienates his children is living in sin… he (or she) is focused on a self-driven, self-focused agenda, a plan of personal gain, in hurting others… versus living a life of walking in love… where he should be focusing on doing what is good and honorable; facilitating a relationship between his children and the other parent... instead he chooses to walk the path of darkness, of evil and do what is displeasing to God… to cause rift, to cause hurt, to cause agony and sorrow for others. When they willfully continue down the path of familial destruction we may question if they have truly accepted Christ as their Savior. If they continue to sin after others have pointed out the ruination they have orchestrated… maybe that they themselves even deep down realize… are they truly sorry for their sinful actions? Being a Christian is having a deep and personal relationship with Jesus Christ… it's being transformed… it's a desire of wanting to be transformed. And when we look to Christ for help… when we slowly see sin falling away in our life… when we want it to… when we feel deeply convicted each time we sin again, realizing we will be miserable until we repent… eventually we will make changes… we will see that we never want to go back to our old ways… that there was zero value in the old sinful ways we lived.
If a parent is continuing to engineer parental alienation… one day their evil schemes will be revealed… slowly but surely it will come to light what they are doing… all areas of their life where sin resides will be revealed either by their own doing or others… maybe it already is… maybe you've heard through the grapevine… maybe you've heard things that he (or she) has done… perhaps you're hearing that others are finally noticing that the image of himself he wants to project to others is failing… the mask has slipped here and there behind closed doors… that the facade of who he wants you to believe he is doesn't match up with who's really there. One day… many will stand before Him who call Him Lord and the Lord will say:
Then I will tell them plainly,
"I never knew you.
Get away from me,
you who practice evil!"
International Standard Version
Matthew 7:23
The alienating parent is on the expressway to hell…
A parent who disciplines his or her child truly loves their child… they know the value and importance of teaching their child right and wrong… the golden rule… God's word. They know they are their child's first teacher and don't take that blessing or responsibility lightly. They know they are to enjoy their children, to nurture them, hug them, love them, yet in that love is teaching… teaching God's ways, not the ways of the world with all it's promoting of self, image, glossy materialism, manipulation, and greed. They know that to spoil a child is to create a monster… to spare the rod is to do nothing but enable a child, to give power to someone who doesn't yet understand it, won't use it for good but for evil, and certainly won't grow to live a humble nature. Instead, sparing the rod and spoiling the child leads to a child becoming like the stunted adults in his or her life… demanding, screaming, belligerent, disrespectful, whiny, self-centered, greedy, manipulative, hostile, hateful and living in sin... blind to what's been created within them, blind to who they could be, blind to what's been done to them… blind to God and ensconced in a world of wretched disarray.
what these children may not know is they have another parent that loves them very much… that truly loves them… that has a heart breaking at what is becoming of their child… that is not proud of who their child has become; at the hands of the evil one… and that they pray daily for intervention, for help that something will give… that someone will step in and reveal the parent for what they are, for what they've done.
It's the inability for a parent to show his (or her) child compassion that is the hallmark trait of a manipulative alienating parent. When my daughter recently burst into tears over the fact she was not served dinner by her father because he was upstairs talking to his best friend on the phone all evening… when she found herself scrounging in the pantry like a desperate little forgotten animal of the night for something to eat because she's not old enough to operate an oven or stovetop herself… the microwave being beyond her young grasp… it brought me to tears… when she admitted through sobs that her dinner that night consisted of Cheez-it's and cookies in her bed all alone… the mental picture of her sitting alone, feeling rejected, not cared for and lacking a basic need made me hurt deeply for her. Images of my hours spent in that kitchen at one time not but a few feet from her room flashed through my mind… remembering the many home-cooked meals I had lovingly prepared for her and her brother showed a stark contrast to her reality now. It could be argued all homes are different and that's true… and yet let the truth shine bright that reality is this:
there is a vast difference
between "different"
and neglect…
which is what her night
was a reflection of
So, parents… I tell you this… keep documenting, keep revealing what's being done… keep showing the truth… keep going, keep pressing on… and when you're bone tired and think to yourself:
"I cannot keep going. I am spent."
Look upward.
Look upward to Heaven.
Let the tears fall.
Let your need call out to Him.
Let Him know you need Him.
You don't have to do it all.
Lean on Him.
He is there.
He loves you.
And your child.
© gps-gracepowerstrength.blogspot.com ~ 2014
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