PRACTICE: Spend a day/week looking for ways to extend grace to others.
ANYONE – anyone – who has ridden in a car with me as the driver, knows that other drivers are a major source of my daily irritations. The rules of the road are clear. The turn signal is to be switch on a minimum of 100 feet before the intended turn. A solid yellow line indicates passing is prohibited – a dashed yellow line passing allowed. A solid white line indicates changing lanes is discouraged and double white line means changing lanes is prohibited. Red always means stop not speed up. The acceleration lane means just that – accelerate to merge into the traffic flow. Other drivers are not required to yield to allow you to slowly move into traffic. AND my biggest irritant, distracted driving (talking on the cell phone), which is potentially detrimental to everyone around the driver. How I wish more drivers knew and obeyed the rules of the road. How I wish that the rules of life were written as clearly. Ahh, maybe they are but they are personal not corporate.
Here are three rules that I need to embrace more fully. 1) Grace (dashed yellow line). When I am graceful toward another, I let things go and embrace the humanness of another. Grace extended means they get a “pass” from me and I give what I always want to receive. 2) Others are not required to live up to my expectations of them. My expectations are only effective when the other knows what they are and agrees to live up to them. Others do not know that I expect them to always obey the rules nor do they care so I need to stop (red light) believing that they are obligated to do so. 3) Never let a first impression be the lasting impression … good or bad (solid white line). There is always more to a person than that which meets the eye. People let you meet their representative. Resist the temptation to embrace or discard another person based upon one interaction.
How does some of the rules of the road and my rules of life intersect. Grace extended toward other drivers will keep my blood from boiling daily. Grace is unmerited when it is extended to me! I ought to be able to do the same for others. I can’t change others, so I need to stop shouting in the car and control me and my frustrations. I shouldn’t label anyone a bad driver based upon one encounter…sometimes that may be true but there are a million other possibilities. We will see how this all works out for me!!!
2 Cor.8:7
PONDER THIS THOUGHT - When I am intentional about giving grace, I become more grateful for the grace extended toward me.
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