This trip to Maine, my mother made an off-the-cuff comment that I felt that I was an abused child. By her tone of voice, I could tell she took this personally, and it bothered her greatly. I’m assuming my attempts at getting help for myself, were to her, a way of transferring blame onto her for my issues in my life. That has never been my intent. At some point we all have to stop blaming our parents, circumstances, and start taking responsibility for our own problems and healing. I could see, however, that I had shared too much with her about my process, which I thought would be exciting to her, and she misinterpreted it, partly, I believe, because of differences in our spiritual views.

After pondering this incident, and many others that had occurred in my life, what I discovered was, that we’re all broken, as a result of sin committed first by Adam and Eve. We all make mistakes and this affects not only ourselves, but our families. Personally, I have adversely affected my children’s lives in ways that may require them to seek psychotherapy or spiritual counseling, and so did my mother, father, and their parents. We can’t help it – we’re members of a fallen race.

Fortunately, we can find redemption, with Lord’s help, with forgiveness for ourselves, and by forgiving those who have sinned against us. It’s easier to forgive when we look at it from words of Jesus, himself, in John 8:7, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” in speaking of woman caught in adultery. We are all sinners, who am I to judge another when I too am a sinner. Judgment is mentioned again as Luke quotes Jesus again in Luke 6:41, “And why do you look at speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive plank in your own eye?” These perspectives help us learn to forgive. Hurting people hurt others, and if we possess our own degree of brokenness, we have hurt others as well. It makes loving your enemies, and forgiving your parents when you choose perspective of Jesus.

Spiritual gifts are still looked upon by far too many in world with some reservation, more so in Western civilization. Such is case in my family. Raised Catholic, my parents believed in Augustinian theory of cessation of gifts after days of Jesus and his apostles shortly after his death. At age 36, I was born again, and departed from Catholicism for empowered Evangelicals. As with Jesus, whose own brothers, at first anyway, thought He was a nut. My own family treated me like an outcast, regularly mock me, and don’t value my spiritual gifting.

Spiritual gifts are blessings from God to be used to bless others as an instrument of Lord. My gifting is more in healing and intercessory work, but in working within these gifts, Lord will give me prophecy to share with people. I pray for increased spiritual gifts as a regular part of my prayers.