No Excuses
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 7:00AM MAD21 By Pat
Many times in my life I have allowed the actions of others to dictate my actions. Have you? For instance, when I was yelled at, I yelled back. ("But you yelled first!") When someone was angry at me, I became angry with them. ("Well, I wasn't angry until you got angry!") When someone has been argumentative, I have argued back. ("You started it!")
It's difficult sometimes to swallow pride, zip lips and walk away. We want to be right, so we blame the other person for making us behave in a way unacceptable to God. We justify our bad behavior by pointing out that WE didn't start it. But that doesn't make us right, does it? The bad actions of others is never justification for our own bad actions. We are called to show others what God looks like, but we can't do that unless we rise above the temptation to return fire. We can never show the world what God looks like unless we allow Him complete control of our thoughts, words and deeds...especially when we are provoked, hurt or wronged. It is NOT okay for us to retaliate. Proverbs 16:32 says, "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." And Proverbs 21:23 advises, "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity."