Let God Be God {And a Giveaway of Let.It.Go}
Being in control is almost seen as a virtue in our culture. The perfect woman is portrayed as influential, assertive, mouthy and equal, if not equal-er, to men. In short, women are encouraged to call the shots, be a driver, and end up on top.
As Christian women, we know that God has called us to humility, so we shun this whole mindset in theory, but in practice I fear we are just as controlling.
Oh, we’ve re-labeled it, and re-packaged it to make it look noble, but at its core it is still the same.
Right off, let me say that you cannot be a Spirit controlled woman if you are a controlling woman.
We might claim to be “assertive, ” which is code for we are eager to make sure our will is done our way.
We might call ourselves “conscientious” but in reality we want to be in charge of every little thing our kids, husband, church or friends do.
A controlling woman thinks these things, although she’d never verbalize them.(you see, she is in control of her reputation as well.)
Signs that you might be a controlling woman:
A controlling woman always thinks she is right. If her husband isn’t dealing with something the way she thinks he should, she takes over. She meddles behind the scenes, and tries to fix everything.
A controlling woman thinks that she doesn’t need input from anyone else to raise her kids. (although she’ll give you her 2 cents about how you should be raising yours, you can count on that!) She doesn’t need input from church family or friends. She is Mom Almighty.
A controlling woman gets angry when her way is disregarded.
A controlling woman is critical and bitter when her expectations are not met.
A controlling woman is impatient when God isn’t working fast enough for her liking.
A controlling woman struggles with letting go: of rights, problems, positions, reputation, of misunderstandings.
A controlling woman is playing god and has set her heart on one thing: Her way.
And in the end a controlling woman is never happy. She lacks lacks the fruit of the spirit because she is not controlled by the Spirit.
You can’t be loving, joyful, peaceful, good, gentle, meek, patient and thankful when Christ is not Lord of your life. And if you are ruling, He is not.
Do you struggle with being controlling? I have in the past.
That is why I appreciated this book so much; Karen Ehman’s new book Let.It.Go.
I have learned so much from Karen’s books on hospitality, and especially love her manual for hospitality A Life That Says Welcome. She even let me share her delish crescent roll recipe from that book in my Christmas ebook!
Her focus on God being central in all that we do is refreshing to me. When your focus is right, your life will be transformed. Outlook affects outcomes!
Here is a little about LET.IT.GO:
Women are wired to control. We make sure the house is clean, the meals prepared, the children are dressed, and everyone gets to where they’re going on time. But sometimes our strength of being conscientious can morph into the weakness of being a slight—or all out—control freak! This humorous, yet spiritually practical book will help you to:
- Take control of your schedule yet welcome interruptions from God
- Draw the line between mothering and micromanaging
- Influence your husband instead of manipulating him
- Learn to control your emotions when you can’t control the circumstances
- Stop pursuing the appearance of perfection and start pursuing the person of God.
Really, at its core, being a controlling woman is volleying for God’s rightful position as ruler of your life. You can’t rule and be submissive to God’s rule at the same time.
Karen gently exposes our common struggles, offers grace, wisdom, humor and practical steps for us to trust God with the reins again.
You can win one of two copies of Let.It.Go.
Use the Rafflecopter form below. Note: All those who leave a comment on this blog will be entered into Karen’s bigger drawing to win a free Kindle Fire at the end of her book launch! Enjoy!
Patience is what I need so very much!!!!
Need to humble ourselves before God. He is the in in control of everything!
Oh my! I seriously need to do a giant heart examination.
This is a great post! Thank you!
I choose the attribute of kindness & forgiveness….sometimes my control issue prevents me from being kind. I must ask God for forgiveness and learn to forgive as easy as God does!
His patience with my weaknesses. I need to be patient with weaknesses I see in others when I think they should be further along. Who am I anyway to make that call??!!
That God is in control and His Faithfulness.
I am always surprised when I discover how controlling I really am! Looking forward to reading this book.
his greatness and how awesome he is
That he is forgiving and I should be too.
I could really benefit from this book. I never realized how I wanted to be in control of everything til I read your blog post. I’m so ready to change that. Thank you for posting your blog. Thank you Karen for writing a book to change lives.
Control—-what a hard thing to let go of, even when you want to. Looking forward to a chance to win this book and to share it with others!
Patience is what I’m clinging to.
Sorry, having trouble with Rafflecopter and just read your question. I have to comment on my laptop and then use Rafflecopter on my phone!
Anyways, the attribute that I cling to most is His love and how we should spread that love to others!
yes, outlook affects outcome! Love that line!
I thought wanting to help my kids from danger would be to their best. I had to let that go a while back and now I am still telling them, “I am not God”. Control Freek of the past visit me in my children’s behavior.
This a is timely subject for me.
A controlling woman is critical and bitter when her expectations are not met.
I am struggling mightily with trying to control.. WORK. For me, family control issues are easier than work issues — and it’s work that is eating away at me. Looking forward to letting go of this!
Wow!! I thought I was doing better with the controlling issue since I sought to change and ask the Lord to remove the perfectionism controlling my life. God indeed has brought me a long way, but unfortunately I still meet many of those signs. I do not want to be that kind of woman because I love the Lord and my husband sooo much, and want to demonstrate it! I desperately want to continue changing. Thank the Lord that He loves us enough not to leave us where we are, but make us more like Him each day if we actually let Him!
His mercy and grace.
I will remember that God is all-knowing and that even when I don’t see the “why” and want to control it, I know it is best for HIM to do so!
the hardest is the letting go control of the kids!
Loving this opportunity to learn more about being a spirit filled woman so that I am not a controlling woman of God! Letting God have all of me….moment by moment!
I find it hard to let go of control especially where my almost grown children are concerned. I want to control everything to try and lessen the bad things in life but I need to trust God and let them make some mistakes of their own so that they learn to rely on God also.
Trying to be in control is exhausting. Thank you for sharing the book, and for reminding me to let go and let God.
I am in need of something to help me let go and let God…so this book will be a great start for me…Thank you for the kind chance to win a copy. Have a blessed day!
Smiles,
Robin 🙂
God’s goodness. Because, if He is good, then whatever circumstance I’m trying to control is actually working out something good. He has no harmful intent towards me.
This is a great question – the attribute of God I need to choose to remember is His faithfulness. His perfect faithfulness. He knows exactly what He’s doing and I can’t see the end result but I can rely upon Him being faithful in all things 🙂
humbleness
It’s so hard to not think my way is always the right way when it comes to things in our home, such as taking care of the kids, cleaning, etc. I would love to read Karen’s book. Thanks for the giveaway!