If I could take just one thing to heart from today’s reading, it would be this: Judgmental people are people in pain. It’s the key for me to be able to recognize confrontation as an opportunity to be gracious to someone and tend to their needs, instead of curling up into a ball (on the inside, if not on the outside), or lashing out in return.
I don’t know many people who enjoy conflict; it seems we
each have our own way of either avoiding it or dealing with it badly. Conflict should come with an instruction
manual, full of lists of Dos and Don’ts, don’t you think? It should have drawings, too.
I love that Neil shows us how to sidestep the surface
issues, though – that’s where we usually get caught up! There’s almost always something else beneath
the surface, hence the emotional charge.
So if I can get over the instinct to self-protect, I realize I have
nothing to defend (that’s where trusting God, for real, comes in), and I can
show love to someone who needs it.
I just ear-marked this page in my book. If you’re reading along online, I guess
putting a bookmark on today’s page would be the equivalent.
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