Day 10 control

 I fear I might be a witch.

No, Im not joking. And of course most of the time I know Im not one. But you'd be surprised how often this thought crosses my mind.

for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered (controlled) them.” (2 Peter 2;19)

“Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Samuel 15: 23 KJV).

Witchcraft is a work of the flesh – our fallen, rebellious, sinful nature. This nature, even in infants, manifests itself in efforts to control other people. Control = power. We want our needs, wants, and desires to be met and if they are not, we will often resort to manipulation, intimidation, and deception to dominate or control to get what we want or feel we need. (taken from https://www.jesusrestores.com/blog/5qmwpdhz6jh44pkn4cjqemkbn8k31f)

Let me just go back a step.

Today I was listening to The Archers (its my guilty pleasure, dont judge me 😁) and one of the characters was trying to persuade another to do him a favour.

'Look, Im really sorry but Im really busy just now and I dont think I can'.

' Oh but it wont take long and it will make such a difference'.

' No, sorry, Im really behind with my college work and I wouldnt do a great job, Im not very confident. Im sure you could find someone else to do it'.

' Dont be silly, you'd do a great job. You did a great job last time...... etc etc'

As I listened to that, what I heard was control. Everyday, subtle, no-big-deal control. Im sure Ive done that to people. Especially my kids. But anyone trying to make someone do things against their will is exerting a power and influence which is not Godly.  God never imposes, forces, wheedles, cajoles, manipulates.  He tells us what He desires and leaves us to make the choice. And we are always free to say no.  In the conversation above the asker wouldn't take no for an answer.  As Christians we have to allow people to say no. However inconvenient or even tragic their decision might be. 

It's tricky isnt it? As parents it is our job to train our kids to do stuff they dont want to do so that they will turn out to be adults that most people can tolerate. If we dont tell them to say please and thank you, brush their teeth, not interrupt when others are talking, look both ways when crossing when they dont want to, we know we are doing them a disservice. And I genuinely believe that parenting is not democratic as small children simply dont have the cognitive capacity to make good choices.  But theres definitely a difference between instructing and controlling.  Between leading, guiding and setting an example and coercing.   I definitely didnt get this right when my kids were young.  There were times when I manipulated, intimidated and probably deceived to get my own way.  I lied in small ways to my kids (Mummy doesnt have any money to buy that today.  We will go there tomorrow. etc etc) just so I could get them to do what I wanted.  God told me off about that and I stopped. Or I tried to stop.  But I know I still have a tendency to use my words and my emotions to manipulate on occasions. And thats witchcraft.

And stubbornness?  Dont get me started on being stubborn.  Eeeeek




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