Don't Be a Spiritual Cameleon

One of the big problems I had in my 20's is I realized what a "people pleaser" I had become. I was listening to James Dobson and he talked about especially women are raised to be more pleasant and have people pleasing traits. I can remember in high school having a fear of "what people think of me." The Bible tells us that the "fear of man brings a snare."

Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. Proverbs 29:25

We see this with Aaron in the Bible where the Hebrews in the wilderness he claimed "forced him to make the golden calf."

No one really forces us to do anything, but at times we become a product of our environment. For me it was growing up with an older brother and boys in the neighborhood where I did not want to be a "tattle tale" so I "covered" what they did many times to the point of lying. I find that men want to lie all the time and at times
I've caught myself falling into that behavior.

The Lord spoke to me a few years ago and said an "oppression' was over my boat and that is the why we had to fix it so many times because my husband told a half-truth. I had to break that oppression over it. It was really a stupid thing and I don't know why he did that, but we are told that "Satan is the father of lies."

The only justified lying I can see n the Bible is to save a life. For instance as far as Corrie ten Boom hid the Jews during the time of Hitler. If Rahab had to lie about hiding the spies in Jericho or I have some qualms about Abraham lying to save his own skin about Sarah being his sister, but that is the only time I see lying can be justified. But in the case of both Abraham and his son Issac lying, the heathen king rebuked him for lying.

I have this tendency "not to rock the boat" at times, because I did not want my brother or the boys in my neighborhood to "get the belt" from their father. I tended to carry this behavior over especially in marriage in going along with people even if it was wrong. It's like making excuses for a person who is an alcoholic. I made excuses for a spouse's wrong behavior. I've seen other women do this all the time. "I'm sorry he got angry at the dinner party, he was in a bad mood." I did it for many years so it's easy to recognize the same behavior.

There is a "reckoning" day like accounting and it came a couple of years after I was widowed. I was warned by an older widow that if I went to single groups with divorced people that they tend to bash their ex-spouses. I told her I was not worried about that because I was previously divorced. I was going to several single socials where this was happening and even laughing when a woman was talking about drawing devil horns on her ex-spouse pictures. But when men started doing it in front of me, I started getting grieved.

It's because the "shoe was now on my foot." A man was making fun of his two ex-wives gaining 40 lbs in marriage and I told him, "Gee I'm glad my husband did not divorce me over gaining 40 lbs. in marriage."
My day of reckoning came when the Lord spoke to my spirit, "I want you to correct them about this behavior.' I was like Jonah, I argued with God for three days that I did not want to do it. I knew it would not be received well. God also spoke to my spirit and said, "You are a Pharisee, you dress up in your nice clothes on Sunday (nice robes) and you want the praises of man over the praises of God. "Hello sister Mary."

How can you believe since you accept glory (praise) from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? John 5:44

Finally, I emailed a group and the scripture the Lord gave me in Hebrews that we fail the grace of God when we allow bitterness in our life and that is also corrupts/contaminates others like Ebola. God does rebuke whom he loves.

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12:15

I finally gave the scripture and I was correct, some received it and some did not. A man who was making fun of his two ex-wives had two strokes right after this incident.

Forgiveness is a strong theme of the Bible and I really like the example of Joseph. He tested his brothers to see if they had repented to see if he could trust him, but it says that "he remembered the dream" He remembered the dream of them bowing before him. Instead of remembering the pit he was thrown into and their betrayal. It's good to remember how Jesus has forgiven us.

It does not mean that we can continue to trust them, but forgiveness is an act of our will, it's like love. "I choose to forgive like I choose to love a person no matter what." When Peter asked how many times we should forgive he said, "seventy times seven."

When Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. "When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. "But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. Matthew 10:21-25