By Kelsey Klepper
My husband used to tell me more times than I’d like to admit, that I have the power to decide how I’m going to react to a situation. It doesn’t matter if the situation is large or small, my reaction is still mine.
I used to think that I couldn’t choose anything other than feeling anxious, upset, or anger. I literally thought I didn’t have the choice to turn away from a negative emotion that came up.
I think a lot of times the power of choice doesn’t seem possible because the enemy wants us to believe that that’s our truth. He wants us to believe that there’s only one way to react to a situation. He wants our identity to be rooted in his lie. Believing that lie is letting the enemy have power over us.
I had an epiphany about a year ago about me believing the lie of being a hothead. This identity has been spoken over me as long as I can remember. “You don’t have patience.” “Your son looks like his dad but acts like you.” (Aka a little hothead.) It seems a little silly, but it seriously didn’t occur to me that I could choose another way, another identity. I just thought that that’s who I was – someone with a short fuse and little patience. When I realized not only did I have the power to choose how I react, but I could actually change my identity. I didn’t have to be the hothead and the person who blew up on a dime.
Are you letting other people speak a negative identity over you? Or are you subconsciously holding onto an identity from years ago? It’s not easy choosing the road you’ve never traveled. It’s not easy making the choice to turn against what the world says is right, but it’s been incredibly freeing to do a one-eighty and move in another direction. I’m a better mom, a better wife, friend, sister and more because I’m making the daily decision to live differently. Life is so much richer when we’re trying to be more like Jesus.
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness (Psalm 86:15 NIV).
Time and time again this is repeated in the bible – God is compassionate and slow to anger. If we are to be more like him, then we have to start making the choices to be more like him. We all have the power of choice especially how we react to situations. Let’s use it to be more like him.
