Cling To What Is Good

“Hang on to what you did right….”

I’m helping chaperone my two middle daughters’ cheer camp this week. This afternoon when I came by to see how they were doing, my older daughter was rushing toward the door in tears. I followed her and put my arm around her. I didn’t say anything, I just waited until she was ready to talk. And when she was ready, she said through tears, “Momma, we did it wrong. We made mistakes.”

Last night when I talked to my momma about her last cancer scan, that’s the very thing that wracked my heart— all the things that I didn’t get right. Our lives may look nice on Facebook, but behind all that is the real stuff. The ugly stuff. The mistakes and the hurt and the struggles that we don’t take pictures of. And in that moment when my daughter leaned on me because she felt like she did it wrong, the Spirit of God spoke a word to her through my own lips that was meant as a balm for my own soul too, “Baby girl, just hang on to what you did right.”

Oh Beloved, that is His word to hearts that feel like they are bearing the weight of the world. To hearts that long to be clean, but keep finding smudges. To hearts that want to love like Christ, but keep tripping over themselves. Don’t hang onto your mistakes, learn from them. Don’t cling to what you did wrong, because that will pull you down to the depths and drown you. Repent where you need to, acknowledge your wrongs, and make amends if necessary, but only cling to what is good. 

Just like I told my baby girl: “You can’t change what you got wrong, but you can hang on to what you did right.”

(Rom 12:9) Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

(Phil 4:8,9) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

(Ps 43:3) Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain, and to the place where You dwell.