Steve Greene
Humility draws people, but self-righteousness pushes them away.
Whenever we are attempting to reconcile a broken relationship, it is possible that our humility may be the thing that gives the other person just enough emotional margin to acknowledge and confess their part of the problem. I am convinced this is what it looks like to follow Jesus.
I am not saying I have always gotten this right because I have not. But I have been, and I am right now, working on it. As I get older, the more aware I am of all that God has yet to do in me and the less aware I am and the less consumed I am with what I think he still has left to do in the people around me.
What he wants to do in you is not up to me. That is not my problem. I am also finding this can allow me to have a deeper level of grace for the people God has placed in my life.
If we are willing to allow the Lord to speak to us, I have a feeling many of us might discover the speck in our own eye was quite a bit bigger than we could have ever imagined. And that plank that we were so sure was in the eye of someone else might not have been quite as big as we first thought.
Imagine what could happen in our families, in that relationship, at work, in our nation and even in our world if we could learn to do this more effectively.
What if we stopped all our finger-pointing and took an honest look in the mirror? That person in the mirror is the only person I can do anything about anyway. This can be so awkward, so emotional, so complicated, and yet, it is so important. We can all grow in our ability to do a better job of reconciling relationships. We think it depends more on them, but what it … what if it depends more on us than we ever dreamed or ever wanted to admit?
By the way, it is so worth your time to teach your kids and your grandkids how to repair broken or damaged relationships. Talk openly about this important matter. Show them how it is done. Who knows? By teaching them how to repair broken or damaged relationships, you might be helping them be in a better position to know how to repair their relationship with you someday.
If that is ever the case, don’t you think you will be pleased to know you invested in your relationship with them on this level? I believe you will. Let’s ask God to help us.
Steve Greene is the lead pastor at The Point in Seymour. Email him at [email protected]. His weekly blog can be found at pastorgreene.wordpress.com. Send comments to [email protected].