I've been liking a common statement: Do the next right thing.
I don't normally like "trendy" sayings, but this one I like. I like it because it's simple to remember and helpful in many situations. But I'd like to add something to it:
Do the next right thing and the next thing right.
Just messed up and hollered at the kids? Don't fret. Deep breath, do the next right thing (apologize) and the next thing right (apologize and pray together so they learn the right way to apologize and how to rely on the Holy Spirit to change us).
#Impatient? Screwed up? Bad day overall? Don't fret. Deep breath, do the next right thing and the next thing right.
This is a Biblical concept: "[The Lord's mercies] are new every morning: great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:23
If the Lord's #mercies to us are new every morning, then our "#mercy" or grace to ourselves (and others, obviously) should be new every morning as well. Avoid sand-bagging (an old term my mother used to mean gathering #offense and storing it up to dump on someone) ourselves or others. Instead, we should start fresh each morning...and each time we mess up.
Brother Lawrence, in the book "Practicing the Presence of God" (one of those books that every Christian should read and re-read all the time), says he did this every time he failed:
"That when he failed in his duty, he only confessed his fault, saying to God, 'I shall never do otherwise if You leave me to myself; it is You who must hinder my falling and mend what is amiss.' That after this he gave himself no further uneasiness about it." Then he went about his business...doing the next thing right.
That's a gracious practice: he gave himself no further uneasiness about it. How many of us can say that about our mistakes, failings, and shortcomings? I am wondering what this would look like in practice—in our marriages, our families, and relationships? I try to practice healthy #self_talk but can still get trapped in a whirlpool of negativity. I know so many people really struggle with this!
Instead, we just need to do the next right thing that presents itself and the next thing right. It doesn't "cross out" the mistake, it just places the responsibility back on the Holy Spirit to change us and places us back in His presence.
#Grace keeps no record of wrongs.
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