We all have buttons we’d like to destroy because people keep pushing them. And the results are chaos and turmoil.

This happened to me recently and I recognized that I reacted the same way every time with one particular person.  The simple solution of walking away from her was not going to happen because I love her. She is family. And I want to understand what is between us.

So, I asked Jesus how to deal with this because I was beginning to fear her. I’ll call her Lisa. Lisa has a strong personality.  But Jesus told me not to go to her in this instance because the problem was not hers but mine.  The pain I felt was a button of guilt I had hidden deep inside myself years ago. I hadn’t handled life perfectly and therefore I’d caused pain to others, including Lisa.

Then I covered it over with time and activity until I’d forgotten it.  But I’d simply buried it and left a button that Lisa pushed often. I’m not sure that Lisa knows about my button, but oddly other people tend to subconsciously sense them. Maybe it’s a spiritual thing because I’m sure our spirits know a whole lot more than our conscious mind.

However, our society has created a standard of treatment for dealing with our sensitive little buttons. We confront the person who pushed it. Then we explain our sensitivity and ask them not to push that button again.

“But this is not the way to handle buttons,” Jesus said.  “This only justifies that button’s existence and gives it free reign to live and grow. My way is to destroy the button completely and set you free.”

He told me to forgive Lisa and release her from any responsibility.  Then accept her and her personality with complete, unconditional love. Wow. That felt impossible. But it didn’t turn out to be so impossible.

He took me back to the moment the button was born and told me to renounce the lie. I didn’t even know there was a lie. But sure enough, not only was there a lie, but I had accepted it and believed it.  The lie had been that I was a failure that wasn’t good enough because I had caused pain to others.

He showed me that our enemy always judges us cruelly and when we agree with his self-cursing lies it creates a button. And that button becomes the cause for more pain inside other relationships.

It wasn’t the easiest thing to Trust Jesus while He exposed those lies. But when He did, then I could see them and disagree with them. That simple act destroys buttons.

And Freedom reigns!