As we head into Thanksgiving tomorrow, I’m sure many of us are living in the anxiety and anticipation of food, family, football, and maybe some fighting. There is nothing like the holidays to stir up the stuff you keep well buried the rest of the year. It always comes out when we are trying to live out traditions “the right way.”
I’m willing to bet that there will be a few clashes this weekend. The sweet potatoes need marshmallows NOT pralines. I want to make grandma’s special recipe this year. HOW CAN YOU SUGGEST WE HAVE HAM INSTEAD OF TURKEY YOU MONSTER?! Objectively, we would all probably tell someone else that these arguments don’t matter in the long run; enjoy the time you have with your family. But in the moment, it can feel like a hill you’re willing to die on.
What if, this year, we decided to set our egos fully to the side and set our heart on enjoying the time we have together? For some, this is the hardest request I could ever make. Around the holidays we can chase those feelings of the good old days, and we want other people to live it out the way we remember it (whether that’s how it actually was or not).
God has called us to pursue wisdom and put our own pride aside. Proverbs 16:16-19 says:
16 How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
17 The highway of the upright turns aside from evil;|
whoever guards his way preserves his life.
18 Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor
than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Find the freedom in letting go. Find the freedom in trusting God to handle what is truly important. Find the freedom to let other people’s mistakes belong to them.