I will not call you selfish...

I will not call you selfish…

There is an ongoing debate in the country where I was born. It’s a debate over choice, who is right and who is wrong, who is alive, and who gets to decide.

In the country where I live, there are monuments dedicated to those who have died as a result of another’s choice… in a country where this choice is supposedly illegal.

We scream, we shout, and I admit that I was among the first to exclaim, accuse, and heave a giant stone at those who thought to disagree.

But no more.

I will not call you selfish…

Because, dear one, there are enough of those voices on both sides, and my yelling will do nothing to ease your pain.

I will not call you selfish…

Because I don’t know your story, your fears, your heart.

I don’t know if this was the result of your choice or forced upon you by someone else.

I don’t know your background, your support group, your education, and who will be there to pick you up after your fall. I don’t know who is there to wash your wounds and heal your bruises.

But I will not add to your scars or multiply your hurts.

I will subtract my judgment to mend your divided heart.

I will not call you selfish…

Because in a split second, your world came crashing down around you, whether it was expected or not, whether it was the result of your will or not.

And I understand, as a fellow human being, when my world is breaking down, I want to cling to whatever I have left… my ability to choose.

Honestly, the thought of someone taking away my ability to choose terrifies me.

And that probably makes me selfish. I want things my way. I want some form of control. Some thread to cling to that will preserve my dignity and keep from adding the shame.

I will not call you selfish…

Because He would never do that. His kindness leads to repentance. His grace is a free gift offered to bring life. He does not steal, kill, or destroy. He brings life, and life everlasting.

I will not call you selfish…

Instead, I will take a good look at my own heart and turn my eyes away from your sin to mine. I will seek freedom from my own chains, and then I will walk with you to find yours. I will call out my own pride, anger, hatred, bitterness, and lust. I will cast the stones and crucify my own flesh. And in doing so, I will have no time for yours.

I will not call you selfish…

If I took a good look at my own life, then I would see my selfishness.

Because if I am truly serving the Author of Life and valuing life, then everything for me must change.

I must be willing to adopt little ones, take in unwed mothers, and walk with couples who didn’t see this coming.

In calling you selfish, then I am ignoring my own accountability, the fact that I am not allowed to be a bystander because when He gave me His name, I joined the fight.

I will not call you selfish…

However, I will call you as He does:

Radiant, Restored, Healed, Free, Crowned with Grace, the Apple of His Eye, His Dear One, Treasured, Full of Life, Overcoming One, Worth every ounce of shed blood.

I will tell you of what He has done for me.

I will show you my little ones… the ones deemed not worthy of the world, but really the ones of whom the world is not worthy. I will tell you of his goodness.

I will walk with you. Even if you stumble again, and even if you hurt me in the process. I will grieve with you, hold you, love you. We will find freedom together.

I will not call you selfish.

I will call you a Daughter of Redemption.

I will call you free.