Read Online Live Original (Sadie Robertson) by Sadie Robertson - Free Book Online
Authors: Sadie Robertson
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easy to be kind to. That’s when we have to remember, “You can only fix you.” You cannot control what other people say or do or how they act. You can only control how you act in response to them. Jesus said the greatest command is love: loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself (see Matthew 22:37–39). Being kind, positive, patient, generous, not jealous, not rude, unselfish—all those things the Bible defines as love—takes work. And only you can work on those things for yourself.
“Fixing you” means that whenever we notice a character flaw, we fix it. When we are tempted to do something wrong, we stand strong against it. We make decisions we are proud of—decisions that build us up on the inside and that benefit not just ourselves but others. And we don’t make decisions that will lead to disappointment or cause us to live at a level that is less than we want for ourselves or God wants for us.
All of us are growing and becoming what we are supposed to be. We aren’t there yet. If we want to reach a place of being our very best, we have to start now to fix ourselves and make adjustments in our lives. I can only fix me, and you can only fix you. If we will all do that, we can make the world a better place.
I CAN’T FIX ANYBODY ELSE
I mentioned in chapter 1 that whatever you put into your mind will come out. When people make bad choices about what they watch, read, or listen to, the garbage they put into their lives reveals itself in their decisions, their choice of friends, or the ways they spend their time. And almost always, it comes out of their mouths.
One time I was with my friends and one girl started using really bad language. In Louisiana, we call that “cussing”! She did not use just one or two bad words; she let a whole string of them go. I was totally shocked!
Most people hear the kind of words she used from time to time. A lot of people use them when they stub their toe, but it’s a whole different deal when someone hammers them all the way through a conversation. That language does not make her a bad person, but itputs hateful speech in my mind, and God wants my thoughts and words to be pure and joyful.
After I got over my initial shock, but before the girl had said too much, I told her, “When you’re with me, I don’t want to hear that stuff. Your words affect the people around you, and I don’t like the effect they could have on me.” Maybe she thought I was being picky, but I had learned the “garbage in, garbage out” principle when I was in junior high school and I had not forgotten it. I did not want the words she chose to use to get into my mind or come out of my mouth the next day. So I told her what I thought.
Whether or not the girl continued to speak the way she did was her choice. If she was okay with doing that in her life, that was her deal. I could not stop her, but I did not have to listen to her. When people speak that way, it influences the people around them. When it affects me—or you—I have a right to stand up for myself and to decide what I will or will not listen to and allow into my brain.
My point is that I could not do anything about the way that girl spoke. She was in charge of her own vocabulary! I could not do one single thing to improve her choice of words, but I could do everything about whether or not I chose to listen. I am learning that we can’t change other people, but we can always change ourselves. In 1 Timothy 4:12, the Bible says,
Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young.
Be an example to all believers in what you say,
in the way you live, in your love,
your faith, and your purity.
My job is to obey God’s Word, and that often means being different from the people in the world around me. God says I need tospeak in a way that sets an example for others. That’s what I’m determined to do, and I hope you are too.
A GREAT EXAMPLE OF FIXING YOURSELF
When people see my mamaw Kay on Duck
“Fixing you” means that whenever we notice a character flaw, we fix it. When we are tempted to do something wrong, we stand strong against it. We make decisions we are proud of—decisions that build us up on the inside and that benefit not just ourselves but others. And we don’t make decisions that will lead to disappointment or cause us to live at a level that is less than we want for ourselves or God wants for us.
All of us are growing and becoming what we are supposed to be. We aren’t there yet. If we want to reach a place of being our very best, we have to start now to fix ourselves and make adjustments in our lives. I can only fix me, and you can only fix you. If we will all do that, we can make the world a better place.
I CAN’T FIX ANYBODY ELSE
I mentioned in chapter 1 that whatever you put into your mind will come out. When people make bad choices about what they watch, read, or listen to, the garbage they put into their lives reveals itself in their decisions, their choice of friends, or the ways they spend their time. And almost always, it comes out of their mouths.
One time I was with my friends and one girl started using really bad language. In Louisiana, we call that “cussing”! She did not use just one or two bad words; she let a whole string of them go. I was totally shocked!
Most people hear the kind of words she used from time to time. A lot of people use them when they stub their toe, but it’s a whole different deal when someone hammers them all the way through a conversation. That language does not make her a bad person, but itputs hateful speech in my mind, and God wants my thoughts and words to be pure and joyful.
After I got over my initial shock, but before the girl had said too much, I told her, “When you’re with me, I don’t want to hear that stuff. Your words affect the people around you, and I don’t like the effect they could have on me.” Maybe she thought I was being picky, but I had learned the “garbage in, garbage out” principle when I was in junior high school and I had not forgotten it. I did not want the words she chose to use to get into my mind or come out of my mouth the next day. So I told her what I thought.
Whether or not the girl continued to speak the way she did was her choice. If she was okay with doing that in her life, that was her deal. I could not stop her, but I did not have to listen to her. When people speak that way, it influences the people around them. When it affects me—or you—I have a right to stand up for myself and to decide what I will or will not listen to and allow into my brain.
My point is that I could not do anything about the way that girl spoke. She was in charge of her own vocabulary! I could not do one single thing to improve her choice of words, but I could do everything about whether or not I chose to listen. I am learning that we can’t change other people, but we can always change ourselves. In 1 Timothy 4:12, the Bible says,
Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young.
Be an example to all believers in what you say,
in the way you live, in your love,
your faith, and your purity.
My job is to obey God’s Word, and that often means being different from the people in the world around me. God says I need tospeak in a way that sets an example for others. That’s what I’m determined to do, and I hope you are too.
A GREAT EXAMPLE OF FIXING YOURSELF
When people see my mamaw Kay on Duck
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