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- Apr 25, 2006
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Messy mates
'Those you allow to remain will become ... thorns in your sides' Numbers 33:55
Have you got a mess of a mate? The kind whose idea of a good night out ends with you both behind bars? Or maybe a needy friend - the sort who drains every ounce of oomph out of you? Or the green-eyed type - they turn all bunny-boiler if you so much as text someone else? Of course we're to love our neighbour warts'n'all ... but there may come a time in a relationship when the most loving thing you can do is let them go. If someone is dragging you back from living out your God-destiny - you need to release them.
Releasing somebody doesn't mean they'll never improve, it just means God is better suited to the job to helping them than you are. It's why God instructed the Israelites concerning the hostile nations in the Promised Land, 'Those you allow to remain will become ... thorns in your sides'.
When a relationship is not working, when your efforts to rehabilitate it have failed, it's time to acknowledge it. Be careful around those who are always trying to make you feel guilty for not 'being there'. There's a difference between helping somebody and carrying them. Your help may actually be a hindrance.
Why should they even try, if you're always there to do it for them? Pray for the right way forward between you and your mess of a mate - but don't expect easy answers; loving them may mean setting them free.
written by Bob Gass
'Those you allow to remain will become ... thorns in your sides' Numbers 33:55
Have you got a mess of a mate? The kind whose idea of a good night out ends with you both behind bars? Or maybe a needy friend - the sort who drains every ounce of oomph out of you? Or the green-eyed type - they turn all bunny-boiler if you so much as text someone else? Of course we're to love our neighbour warts'n'all ... but there may come a time in a relationship when the most loving thing you can do is let them go. If someone is dragging you back from living out your God-destiny - you need to release them.
Releasing somebody doesn't mean they'll never improve, it just means God is better suited to the job to helping them than you are. It's why God instructed the Israelites concerning the hostile nations in the Promised Land, 'Those you allow to remain will become ... thorns in your sides'.
When a relationship is not working, when your efforts to rehabilitate it have failed, it's time to acknowledge it. Be careful around those who are always trying to make you feel guilty for not 'being there'. There's a difference between helping somebody and carrying them. Your help may actually be a hindrance.
Why should they even try, if you're always there to do it for them? Pray for the right way forward between you and your mess of a mate - but don't expect easy answers; loving them may mean setting them free.
written by Bob Gass
