April 17
Keeping a Clean Slate
Love … it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.
1 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT)
One of my struggles is punctuality. I came under great conviction when someone shared this truth: you can steal or borrow someone’s money and pay them back, but when you take someone’s time, it’s gone forever!
Wow! What a thought. I am more sensitive to this now, but occasionally too sensitive. For when others steal my time by being late or inconsiderate with appointments and schedules, I stew. And then I make a mental note of it and stew some more.
This is not the quality Paul exhorts us to pursue. This is not loving. This is reacting. Instead of stewing, I should express the truth in love, set some clear boundaries and hope and pray the Spirit moves these others in positive ways.
If I share my observations with grace and care, we can move on and put these issues behind us. I can keep a clean slate—in my own heart, with God and with others. This is what the Christian way of life is all about: developing character, expressing the truth in loving ways, forgiving and forgetting. It’s what God does … how about us?
Lord, help me not to stew but to express love in positive, helpful ways. Amen.
Keeping a Clean Slate
Love … it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.
1 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT)
One of my struggles is punctuality. I came under great conviction when someone shared this truth: you can steal or borrow someone’s money and pay them back, but when you take someone’s time, it’s gone forever!
Wow! What a thought. I am more sensitive to this now, but occasionally too sensitive. For when others steal my time by being late or inconsiderate with appointments and schedules, I stew. And then I make a mental note of it and stew some more.
This is not the quality Paul exhorts us to pursue. This is not loving. This is reacting. Instead of stewing, I should express the truth in love, set some clear boundaries and hope and pray the Spirit moves these others in positive ways.
If I share my observations with grace and care, we can move on and put these issues behind us. I can keep a clean slate—in my own heart, with God and with others. This is what the Christian way of life is all about: developing character, expressing the truth in loving ways, forgiving and forgetting. It’s what God does … how about us?
Lord, help me not to stew but to express love in positive, helpful ways. Amen.
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