Can you hear what I’m not saying?
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12
We all know how difficult it can be to overcome our natural, fleshly responses to things. Part of God’s plan for all of us is that we would constantly strive to make ourselves aware of the differences between our thoughts, actions, and feelings, and the way that Jesus would think, act, and feel. In order to do this, we must work diligently to stay very self-aware, we must listen to people we trust, and we must pray for God to reveal these things to us. One area that God has shown me that I struggle with is in my tendency to be very judgmental towards other people who exhibit certain behaviors that I, for whatever reason, disapprove of. It can be easy to be gracious with people when we can see what they are struggling with. When we can see their brokenness, their hurt, their addiction, etc. But what about when things aren’t so obvious? The problem is that we sometimes fail to look very far beyond the obvious when sizing up someone else’s behavior.
An example that God brought to my attention one day, was my distaste for people that seem to have the need to be the center of attention. I don’t necessarily mean people that are outgoing and comfortable around crowds. I don’t mean people that aren’t afraid to step up and lead or even to be the life of the party at times. What I mean are those people that seem to need to make everything about themselves.
Those people that demand the attention of others in a selfish or self-serving way. They seem obnoxious. They seem rude. All they seem to care about is getting their needs filled, no matter how that may affect or inconvenience other people. Their actions seem to be shouting, “Look at me! Pay attention to me! Forget everyone else. I’m most important.” Well, I know how I see that type of behavior. The question is, how would Jesus see that type of behavior? Rev. Dr. John Watson, writing under the pen name of Ian Maclaren is quoted as having said, “Be kind. For everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” You see, the truth of the matter, that we can easily forget, is that most relationally or socially unhealthy behavior is nothing more than the manifestation of some type of inner struggle or brokenness that the person has inside of them. The challenge for us is to push past our fleshly responses to behaviors that we dislike, and to try to understand that it is often the only way that a person has thus far come up with to cope with a difficulty in their life. I would imagine, that if they felt that they had a better way, they would stop the behavior themselves.
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Proverbs 12:25
Going Beyond
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