When it comes to our mistakes, errors in judgment, sins…it’s how we respond that define us… in so many ways. ‘Doing the right thing’ is not always easy… it’s not necessarily ‘automatic’… but I think we always instinctually (or intuitively) know. The only question is – HOW we respond. Do we try to hide? ignore? shift attention? and there are a host of other like responses. Obviously the answer should be – apologize, where and to whom necessary, correct, and move on. And this can be incredibly difficult. But even the ‘difficult’ is no reason to avoid nor no ‘excuse’ for not doing what we need do.
“So, as God’s own chosen people, who are holy [set apart, sanctified for His purpose] and well-beloved [by God Himself], put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience [which has the power to endure whatever injustice or unpleasantness comes, with good temper]; bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive. Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others].” [Colossians 3:12-14]
Even if the only verses we remember, Colossians 3 gives us our What as well as our How of doing our How we do Who we are. It also gives us a way to ‘judge’ ourselves: how we respond, what we do to resolve, and ultimately how this is added to our understandings,,, not least of which is ourselves.
We see that it is our Who that puts on a heart of: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience which becomes our foundation on which we act. Never feel that you go into difficult places (and learn important lessons) without a strong foundation. You are never a wimp or a foot mat or even ‘wrong’. Sometimes our ‘right’ isn’t expressed in a way that demonstrates speaking the truth in love. Without this motivation our words and actions can be misunderstood as pompous or opinionated or threatening. How can our message be understood or even heard? And never let your expression be an ‘excuse’.
The How of our Who gives the other person a tangible example and we do tend to believe what we see over what we hear. Do you follow the directions in these verses? Are they your expression in responding? This is especially true when it comes to accepting our errors and dealing with them. You can’t catch back the words you say and it can be difficult to explain our behavior. But we can always make it… worse by our How.
