1 Corinthians 13:6 - It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
I referenced Matthew Henry again on this one. He said, "It does nothing out of place or time; but behaves towards all men as
becomes their rank and ours, with reverence and respect to superiors,
with kindness and condescension to inferiors, with courtesy and
good-will towards all men."
Being a first born (check out the birth order book [aff link]) I have no problems with this. I always want to do things the way they're supposed to be done and follow the rules. I make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to and when I'm supposed to.
However my fault here lies in the reasoning behind doing so a lot of the time. There's a difference between following the rules to follow the rules, which can be dogmatic and religious, and not doing it out of service and love.
Too many times, doing the right thing becomes fulfilling a checklist and doesn't have the heart behind it should. There's a big gap between following the rules and rejoicing in the truth.
How have you walked the line between following rules and doing what's right?
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Love Is Series: Verse 5b
1 Corinthians 13:5b: It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful
To know how I measure up to this, I need to look no further than a review I received from work. My manager polled all of the management team about each individual manager on a long list of areas and asked for commentary on them. The results were provided to us anonymously. We answered the questions about ourselves as well so we know how what we think about ourselves matches up with how our peers see us. It's a pretty fantastic tool.
Anyway, short story long, one of the comments on mine was, "Once he has his mind made up, doesn't waiver."
Granted, this was only one person, and I don't have any perspective. But being that I consider myself pretty laid back and flexible, it's disappointing that I've given anyone, even that one person that impression.
At some point, or maybe over several occasions, I gave this person the impression that my way was the only way. And I'm not ok with that. I want to be open to others ideas, work as a team and move forward. I don't want to give the impression that I'm "irritable or resentful" if I don't give my way.
Luckily with this tool saved in my inbox as a reminder, I can approach our meetings with this prospective and remind myself to show my openness when discussing plans of action.
Hopefully it carries over into my family life as well.
How do you do with not getting your own way? How would others say you do?
To know how I measure up to this, I need to look no further than a review I received from work. My manager polled all of the management team about each individual manager on a long list of areas and asked for commentary on them. The results were provided to us anonymously. We answered the questions about ourselves as well so we know how what we think about ourselves matches up with how our peers see us. It's a pretty fantastic tool.
Anyway, short story long, one of the comments on mine was, "Once he has his mind made up, doesn't waiver."
Granted, this was only one person, and I don't have any perspective. But being that I consider myself pretty laid back and flexible, it's disappointing that I've given anyone, even that one person that impression.
At some point, or maybe over several occasions, I gave this person the impression that my way was the only way. And I'm not ok with that. I want to be open to others ideas, work as a team and move forward. I don't want to give the impression that I'm "irritable or resentful" if I don't give my way.
Luckily with this tool saved in my inbox as a reminder, I can approach our meetings with this prospective and remind myself to show my openness when discussing plans of action.
Hopefully it carries over into my family life as well.
How do you do with not getting your own way? How would others say you do?
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