OK I know most of you come here for a laugh and I assure you there will be a post about something funny soon, but there are just some other things I need to talk about.

Toxic relationships.

Yeah, this is always a fun one to consider. The Bible has much to say about the spirit we should have, “turn the other cheek” “offer your cloak” “soft answer turns away wrath” There is scripture after scripture about how you should treat your “neighbor” Yet, when do we decide that we can get off the floor and quit being a door mat for someone?

I think the two points I want to talk about is glorification and enabling.

1. Glorification – We are commanded to do all things to the glory of God. This is the tough one to follow when someone is lying, backstabbing, being intentionally hurtful to us. We want to strike out. We don’t want to take it. Yet we convince ourselves that we are not being “Godly” if we speak up and stand up for ourselves. When God in flesh saw that the temple was not being used for glorification of His Father, he stood up, he took action and he rebuked what was going on. The temple was sacred, such as we are sacred. No matter how old we are, we are His children. He gave a speech once “Matthew 25:40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ ” In this speech he was talking about clothing and feeding strangers. But can’t we acknowledge that what we do to others, still applies. There is no glorification in the tearing of someone down, there is no glorification in the crushing of someone’s heart.

2. Enabling – When we continue to allow someone to step all over us, verbally abuse us (or worse) and we do it all in the name of “turning the other cheek” we are enabling that type of behavior to happen again and again. Unless that person is a believer and is able to see the error of their ways, our being meek is not going to lead that person to a more Godly life. They will continue to push the limits and see what they can get away with. Their behavior can cause a doubt within ourselves as cherished children of God. Sooner or later, our strengths will begin to wear down and we will succumb to the negativity that is being thrown at us, losing sight of our role and purpose as Christians. As long as we permit these toxic relationships to affect out lives, we can not be the Christians we are meant to be. Our lights will not shine as we allow someone to throw dirt over our flame.

There is a time to pull back from these people and not let them drag us down to where they are. It is our responsibility to pull them up, show them the Light, but sometimes that is just not possible. They are so consumed within themselves and the chaos that they like to create that we alone can’t change that. We must only pray that something changes in their lives and hearts. Until then how much do we have to endure from them? How much heartache must we suffer at their hands? How much deep wounds are caused from hurtful wounds from their speech?

I leave you with this scripture

Ephesians 6:10-17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Isaiah 54:17

“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

And another random quote:

” The only thing required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.” -Thomas Paine

We are being commanded to stand firm, to arm ourselves and to not lay down during a spiritual battle. We are commanded to fight in the Lord’s name against evil and those who exhibit evil in all of it’s forms.

I am sorry if this has appeared jumbled and if anything seems unclear, please convey that back to me so that I can further examine it and correct it as need be.

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