Memories are great to have as long as they are good memories. There are also memories we need to let go because whatever we try to do they can’t be changed. Accept them and move on. If they are bad memories try to let go of them and move forward to greater and better thoughts.
I have many memories. Some are great and some are not so great. Some are just plain unnecessary. One of these type memories is when I was a teenager my mom asked me to go empty a bowl of leftover food for the outside animals. As I was walking back to the house I was doing what most teenage boys do and was twirling the bowl in the air and catching it. Some of the crumbs bounced out of the bowl and I flinched and the bowl went sailing to the ground and the results weren’t good. It was broken and when I went in to tell mom I dropped it she said, “I was watching you from the window.” That was all it took for her to say to let me know she knew I was not being careful and acting foolishly and broke one of her favorite pieces of glassware.
You might say to me that this is a memory I need to let go of and it is. I don’t know why this bothered me so much and even though it has been over 60 years ago I still think of it sometimes. It was just a glass bowl but it was a bowl my mom used a lot in preparation of food for the family. I acted foolishly and then tried to tell my mom it was an accident when I knew better and she witnessed me throwing the bowl in the air. It is not so much that I broke the bowl it is something that I took away that she needed and then I tried to tell her it was an accident.
I see this type behavior over and over in the world today. My wife and I have raised four children and now we have grandchildren. I was in management in the workplace for over 35 years and I witnessed many instances when someone would create a problem and then try to shift blame to someone or something else. Children and young people do this often because of the consequences they could face if they own up to the truth.
The Bible tells us a lot about foolish behavior. When you are young and act foolishly and not corrected, it can create problems for you when you grow into adulthood. Foolish behavior can create money problems because of reckless handling. These people tend to quarrel more often and will incite fights because of their laziness and lack of focus and ambition. They bring trouble on themselves and never seem to learn. Even though the consequences of their behavior are bad, they seem to repeat the same things over and over. Proverbs 10:1 says, “A wise son brings joy to his father; but a foolish son grief to his mother.”
Most of the time when we try to help someone that acts foolishly they will not heed our advice. We need to insure that we don’t honor them in what they do. We must maintain the right attitude and motivation toward these people, but the main thing we can do for them is pray for them. Only God can change a foolish man’s heart and actions.
I did learn from my little incident of so many years ago however, it still brings back a memory when I act foolishly about certain situations. The biggest lesson I learned was that I need to be truthful in all matters at hand and be wise in everything I attempt to do. I pray every day that God will guide me in all my actions and I pray for all those that I will see and meet on any day.
GARY ANDREWS' devotional appears each week on the Church Pages of your Clarksdale Press Register. You can contact him at GARY@gadevotionals.com
