Wow...
"But that wears thin after twenty years or so, and attempting to police someone’s speech, behavior, and lifestyle can push them further away, because who wants to be manipulated and controlled? .....
Yes, because honestly, we have no control over the behavior of adults, and it is deeply offensive to act like we do. Each and every one of us is ultimately accountable to God. We can’t shoulder our way into that relationship and try to mediate between the two of them, haranguing the person and acting as if their behavior is our spiritual responsibility. That’s infantalizing and dehumanizing. We need to allow people the dignity of making their own decisions, even if we’re sure those decisions are wrong and will lead them down a bad path. .......
Here’s the long and short of it. It’s not our job to fix people’s behavior. It is our job to love them, pray for them, and point them toward Christ, in whatever way we can.
In order to do that, we’re going to need to offer a lot of grace. And in order to offer grace, we need to let go of the shame, perfectionism, and fear that drives us and accept that grace for ourselves."
(Love Should Never Include Disclaimers: Why Christians Need to Stop Trying to “Fix” People. by Jenny Rae Armstrong on March 31, 2014)
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