How Many Lives?

Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. 

You will reap exactly what you plant. 

Galatians 5:7 

 

Wouldn't it be good if we were all like Pinocchio, so that every time we told a lie our noses would grow?  I'm willing to wager that the world would be a much quieter place because people would be afraid to talk. Yet we seem to enjoy telling each other what we think they want to hear so we can get what WE want out of them.  And, on the other side of that, there are those who will blindly believe everything they are told by some because they want to be "supportive" and "help them."  

 

There is a word for the ones who blindly believe....ENABLER!  We are willing to believe any melodramatic tale, any wild story, any improbable yarn because we want to be helpful and we don't want to be "Confrontational."  So, we listen.....we give in......and we lose a bit of ourselves every single time....then when our enabling is pointed out....WE become the liars (agreeing with the person who pointed out our enabling, telling them whatever we think they want to hear so we can go right back to being a doormat for the person we are enabling).  Grandparents do this with their grandchildren.  Parents do this with their children.  And on and on.  Because life is "mean" and we "don't want them to get hurt."  

 

So we enable.  We give.   Then we lie to others.  Every lie we tell damages the very relationship that could help us.  Yet we don't seem to want help.  We have gotten used to being used.  

 

Remember this: "NO ONE makes a fool of God!"  Did you get that?  NO ONE!  What a person plants is what they will reap.  If you plant lies, expect to be lied to.  In Galatians 6:5, the Apostle Paul is crystal clear:  "EACH OF YOU MUST CARRY HIS OWN LOAD!" 

 

Remember the story of the Prodigal Son?  The son had to face the reality of his own decisions and actions!  The father forgave him and welcomed him back AFTER he understood that his actions had consequences.  AND the father reminded the other son that the prodigal was no longer entitled to any inheritance because he had already squandered his share.

 

So think about this:  YOU have your OWN life to live.    If you have vowed before God to share that life with your spouse, NOTHING should get in the way and NO ONE should be put between you and your spouse!  When we enable, we destroy our own lives, the lives of the ones we are enabling, and any relationships we had hoped to encourage us.

 

In other words, "You can't through manure in the well and serve it up as pudding!"