It's a Conspiracy!

16 A fool shows his annoyance at once,
but a prudent man overlooks an insult. –Proverbs 12:16

You gotta love the driver that thinks every other driver on the road is in conspiracy against him. He believes other drivers puposely slow down when he wants them to speed up and they speed up when he wants them to slow down. They change lanes in front of him to “cut him off.” They take too long to make their left turn and make him miss the green light. It’s a conspiracy, I tell you! At one time or another we’ve all been that driver. We know there really is no ill intent on the part of the other drivers, but it sure seems that way when we are running late.

Likewise, there are times when we misinterpret others’ words. Maybe they are not very careful with their choice of words, but that combined with our mood or a sensitive issue makes it sound like an out and out insult. If we are wise we won’t react. Chances are it was an innocent remark anyway. Think about that person… how would they feel if they realized they had offended you? Do they make a practice of belittling others? The answers to those questions should tell you whether or not you misinterpreted the intent of the remark.

When we show our annoyance right away, we miss the opportunity to share grace. Even an intentional insult can be wiped away by a generous amount of grace. And it makes us look so much better… less petty… more spiritually mature… and if we don’t spend a lot of energy denying it, we give much less credibility to the insult.

I’ll bet each of us can think of a time when we wish our poor choice of words had been overlooked.

Lord,
You know our mouths get us in more trouble than any other part of our body. Help us to control our tongues and to be eager to forgive those who slip. Amen.

Joys: Richard coming home today... and staying home for a couple of months; Kevin's new job as a lab technician at school; more sunshine