“Jesus’ stories in Luke 15 tell us that you have never locked eyes with another human being who isn’t valuable to God.” So say Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg in Becoming a Contagious Christian and I agree but do I always act that way?
People who jump onto the train in front of others already standing in line, take up more than one space on the bus, or nearly run me down in the parking lot don’t get me thinking, “wow…they need Jesus.” I won’t tell you what I sometimes am thinking about them , but I can say it’s not placing them high on my value index.
We have a choice, however, with how we react to other’s actions. Their behavior doesn’t ‘force’ us to respond in a certain way. So here are three things we can try that just might help us think and act a little more Christlike, and which God might use to make those far from him curious about why we’re treating them differently than others.
- Pray for them – What if the person who speeds past and cuts you off on the highway has a sick child in the back of the car? Would you feel a little less angry at them? Since we rarely know what lies in the background of a person’s behavior, prayer is always a good start
- Step Up and Help – Letting the aggravating, pushy person behind you move ahead so they can get through the checkout line quicker might be doing them a favor they need.
- Don’t Judge – A judgemental attitude, in addition to usually being sin, can easily take the compassion we want to feel and replace it with resentment or anger.
What’s Next
- Check out another Character Challenge
- Learn the ‘IF’ Strategy
- Read our first post
