Going To War

I’ve been thinking about how many times a day, I go to war. My children act up and I fly off the handle and yell. Traffic on the way to the store, and someone cuts me off, I continue on my way.  At the store my debt card is declined, completely embarrassed I smile and hand the cashier my credit card.

These are all times when I go to war. Most of the time during the day I may appear as a kind, sympathetic, and compassionate; appearances are deceiving.  Inside, I am raging against all the injustices during the day. At the end of the day feeling stressed, I climb into bed. I just need some down time, sometime to just unwind from the hectic and stressful day, my husband sensing my discomfort reaches his arm around me and kissing me on the shoulder. Before I could even consider a reaction, I bit…”Not tonight!” Wounded and confused he rolles over.

It doesn't matter what our outside actions are. I think it is far more damaging when we go to war in our heart.

When is it right to go to war? Aren’t there times, when we are entitled to go to war? What about when family or civil liberties are threatened? There are probably times in life that we are going to need to take an aggressive action in order to preserve our liberties. Buck Brunnaman said, “As soft as possible, as firm as necessary.” When we have to be firm on our children for example, we can do it in the spur of the moment and act out in an act of war, or we can take a loving approach and still go firm but in a way that expresses our love and still allows room for the blessings of consequences. This principle stands true in all facets of our live.