Soul Care to Save Your LifeSample

In Matthew 5–7, Jesus gives his longest moral teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, which has become central tenets of Christian discipleship. He addresses our judgment of others, reminding us that the minute we see things within other people that we don’t like, we have no business calling them out or casting judgment because we have our own issues to work through.

Our three boys argued nonstop, so most days I felt like a taxi driver by day and a referee by night. Recently our oldest, Goof, had been instigating our middle child, Bear as if looking for a fight. I reminded Bear how important it is to ignore anyone who’s trying to instigate and rile him up. I told all three of them for what felt like the thousandth time: you can’t control other people; you can only control your reaction to them.

At dinner that evening, we went around the table modeling the beautiful concept of ignoring someone who is trying to pick a fight with you. Eric got super into it, of course; the kids laughed as he pretended to instigate a fight with me as I ignored him relentlessly and kept on eating my pizza in peace. Our boys loved this little “game” we played, and I think they started to catch on to the bigger lesson. Before bed that evening, I looked into their eyes and reminded each of them that there is nothing outside of them that has power over them.

Maybe you need to hear it too: nothing outside of you has power over you. Not your friends or your annoying coworker. Not your circumstances or your surroundings. Not your life coach or your parents. Maybe you feel stressed out because you feel the weight of that responsibility right now. I can assure you that there’s nothing better than waking up to the reality that you have access to all the power within you.

You can live a life you’re proud of if you want. You can stop taking the bait of other people’s drama. You can maintain your composure even when chaos breaks loose in your home or at the office. The only things that have power over you live inside you. If you needed another reason to care about what’s going on deep inside your soul, this is it.

Whom or what have you allowed to have power over you? What does this reveal to you?