Tuesday 27 August 2013

Taking Ownership

[The boy cowered in fright as his father lashed out at his mother, both in words and in action. The slap across his mother's tear-stained face resounded across the room to where the boy tried to stay hidden behind the sofa.

"I wish mum and dad would stop fighting...... I wish I was old enough to leave home....... I wish.... I wish I had never been born into this family......", the boy thought wistfully.

Fast forward twenty years, the boy is now a full grown man with a family of his own and a good job. His wife, too, has a full-time job and they struggle with balancing their careers and bringing up their two year-old son. As much as he loves his family, he doesn't understand why he is so short-tempered with them sometimes. Oh, he tries hard to be patient, but there is always this temptation to lash out at them the way his father did towards him and his mother. He wonders if he's becoming like his father.....]


The above scenario may be fictitious, but a lot of us have seen and heard enough of this sort of replication in families to know that history tends to repeat itself.

In fact, if we're honest with ourselves, we can even see how we seem to do to our own families the very thing(s) that our parents did to us which either frightened or annoyed us.

Sometimes, it's easier just to blame our parents for teaching us the wrong things. Or to blame our spouses, partners or friends for causing us to react in the way that we did which we're by no means proud of, but which we may not be willing to admit.

While working through the pain of my past, I've come to realise that the only way to overcome some of the things that I don't like about myself is to take ownership of them.

Taking ownership of our weaknesses and circumstances means, first of all, to acknowledge these very things.

It requires us to be honest with ourselves, with God, and even with others.

It means acknowledging that we don't like certain aspect(s) of ourselves or the circumstances that we're in, but that we accept the responsibility that we now have to get the help that we need in order to get to a better place.

It means to stop blaming others and to forgive them for modelling the wrong thing to us. It may also mean that we need God's help to reach that place of forgiveness in letting go of the hurts of the past.

Taking ownership may not seem fair, as it means relinquishing the wrong-doings of the people who have wounded us.

However, taking ownership stops us from hurting ourselves and our own families as we take the step to cut ourselves and our descendants off from the weaknesses and struggles of our forefathers which have been passed down from generation to generation.

It is a vital step towards experiencing the joy and freedom that God has intended for us and our loved ones.

The recovery process that begins with taking ownership may not happen overnight, but it is well worth every effort that is made.

You and I deserve the gift of taking ownership.

This is the gift that God is offering us today!

"For He says, 'In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." ~ 2 Corinthians 6:2 ~