I'm so grateful for the Christian accountability partners that I have in my life. Last night I was approached by my host sister, saying that she wanted "to talk." What she actually wanted to do was give me a huge laundry list of all of the things I'm doing wrong in my homestay. Aside from the fact that it came completely out of the blue, so I was totally blindsided, it was also really frustrating because of the nature of the complaints that they brought against me. Some of them were legitimate issues and I'm glad they brought them up....but some of them were just plain silly. Things like I should eat my rice with a spoon instead of chopsticks, and I don't put my laundry in the laundry basket quickly enough, and I should say this greeting as opposed to that greeting. I make enough legitimate mistakes as it is, that when they brought up all of these silly little things that quite frankly, don't matter, on top of everything else that I'm trying to remember that DOES matter, it was just really frustrating and disheartening.
My first instinct was to get defensive and lash back in anger. But thank the Lord for my Christian family and friends, who reminded me that the only thing that would really fix the situation was prayer. Prayer for patience for me, for understanding for them, and for mercy in the situation from God. Prayer that I would be able to be the bigger person and turn the other cheek.
Don't get me wrong, turning the other cheek is the last thing in the world that I want to do at the moment. But I've also learned that holding onto a grudge or harboring anger (even if it's passive-aggressive) never hurts anyone but yourself. God has given us His guidelines for life, and even if they don't logically make sense to us, they are what''s best for us. Perhaps it's the whole freedom thing that I talked about yesterday. There is freedom in submitting to God, in letting go of anger, even if it's not causeless anger.
So let go of your anger, your pain, your frustration, your confusion. Turn the other cheek, give them over to God, and let freedom reign in your life.
My first instinct was to get defensive and lash back in anger. But thank the Lord for my Christian family and friends, who reminded me that the only thing that would really fix the situation was prayer. Prayer for patience for me, for understanding for them, and for mercy in the situation from God. Prayer that I would be able to be the bigger person and turn the other cheek.
Don't get me wrong, turning the other cheek is the last thing in the world that I want to do at the moment. But I've also learned that holding onto a grudge or harboring anger (even if it's passive-aggressive) never hurts anyone but yourself. God has given us His guidelines for life, and even if they don't logically make sense to us, they are what''s best for us. Perhaps it's the whole freedom thing that I talked about yesterday. There is freedom in submitting to God, in letting go of anger, even if it's not causeless anger.
So let go of your anger, your pain, your frustration, your confusion. Turn the other cheek, give them over to God, and let freedom reign in your life.
Matthew 5:38-48
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
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