Poisoned Minds

When my sister and I were both newly-weds, we used to play this so-called game about who had the worst husband story to tell. I would eagerly relate how mine did this or said that, often exaggerating the truth, and then she would try to come up with something her own husband did to try and beat mine!  I don’t know why we did it, except that we both seemed to find it rather entertaining and amusing!  It wasn’t until after my sister and my husband had a fall-out, that I realized how I had poisoned her mind against him. You see, I had failed to share any of my husband’s good points and had only highlighted his weaknesses. You could say I had altered her perspective and had poisoned her mind towards him, and it took many years to rectify that.

I have learnt that when our minds are poisoned towards someone, it creates a barrier that makes it difficult to love them. The same could be true with what I’ve previously shared about step-mums and in-laws! We need to be aware of how dangerous it is to have a poisoned mind towards someone and how it’s even more so, when we are the ones doing the poisoning when we gossip about others.  

If we are guilty of this, then we need to ask God to remove the poison in our minds and also in those we've helped to create.  I believe God's love can rid us of this poison. 

Step-Mums & Mother-In-Laws

One of my beliefs in life is based on personal experience. That is that Satan has poisoned our minds to dislike our step-parents and in-laws! I believe this is one of his many devices he uses to try and destroy families. He knows that if we don’t get along, our relationship will suffer. We are brought up with fairy-tales and films telling us that they are ‘evil’ and that we are to consider them our enemies, so we label them as such. We go through life with this pre-conceived filter that tells us to hate them, no matter what!  This was true with my own step-mum. Granted, I was also jealous that she had taken away my dad’s attention, but recently I’ve found myself battling to remember the reasons why I hated her.  After my dad died in 1993, I chose to lose contact with my step-mum and now, after nearly 20 years, I find myself re-united with her by the grace of God, and loving it!

I had the same instant dislike towards my mother-in-law. We all know the famous jokes about being enemies with them, and I guess it was true with mine! Despite the fact that we share the same birthday and are very much alike, over the years we seem to have rubbed each other the wrong way on many occasions. I remember a time when I was really battling to love her that God told me to call her ‘Mum’! I was horrified at the very thought of it. It wasn’t because I was worried about what my own mum might think, as she had passed away many years before, but the mere notion of it churned in my stomach.  However, I can share that when I chose to obey this seemingly small command, our relationship was somehow instantly healed. It was almost as if my poisoned mind had been emptied and I was able to see her with new eyes and a new filter – ‘Mum’. 

We need to realize this tactic of the Devil and see people without labels. We should love them for who they really are and ignore what society tells us how we should feel towards them.  Just love them instead and see how good it can be…