On a scale of one to ten where do we each think we have found ourselves during this pandemic season oF lockdowns and restrictions and unexpected changes when it comes to putting this principle into practice
Just for today I will be agreeable. I will not criticize, not find fault, and not try to improve or control anybody except myself.
Why is it easier to see where circumstances or others need to improve and doing things differently instead of seeing where we need to change and improve ourselves? Why are we irritated by circumstances and the faults of others and still unable to see our own?
The Bible gently reminds us:
What if someone is caught in a sin? Then you who live by the Spirit should correct that person. Do it in a gentle way. But be careful. You could be tempted too. Galatians 6:1
We all have blind spots in our character that cause us not to see the impact our words and actions have on others. We may have lived in a certain way for so long that our conscience simply ignores the effect of our conduct on others. Perhaps we have trained ourselves to live by our feelings and we feel hurt when someone else’s character defects impact us. This doesn’t make other’s wrongs worse than ours or our wrongs more excusable. It tells us that we have certain habits, character defects and harmful actions, that need to be re-shaped by God’s principles.
Just for today I will be agreeable. I will not criticize, not find fault, and not try to improve or control anybody except myself.
When I think about this principle of being agreeable, not criticizing, not finding fault, and not trying to improve or control anybody except myself I think one of the greatest “equalizer” passages from the Bible in this regard is found in the famous words of 1 Corinthians 13:
Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It does not dishonor other people. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
God we each wish we could put our own names in the above sentences where it says “Love is…” and have that be said of us. We’re not often patient and kind. We do look after our own interests and thing we get things right more often than others. We can hold a record of wrongs a mile long for others for a very long time. Especially during this pandemic many of us have become more easily angered more often than we wish.
Oh God, we want You to work in us today and we want to co-operate with Your Spirit today so we change. We want to be full of joy in what is good and right in all of us. We want to take care of one another when we are weak, knowing that we all are weak and stumble around sometimes. We want to be those who always trust, always hope and never give up.
In these quiet moments, once again Loving God, please reveal to us any way our motives, thoughts, words and behaviours are not in keeping with Your principles of love and compassion. Give us humility to stay focused on the changes we need to make and grace to leave others in Your care. Amen
God being our helper, just for today let’s be agreeable, not criticize, not find fault, and not try to improve or control anybody except ourselves.
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