Colossians 3:12 (NIV)
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly
loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience.
We must not only put off anger and wrath, but we must put
on compassion and kindness; not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well;
not only not do hurt to any, but do what good we can to all. [Matthew Henry
Commentary]
Once, while
speaking on the topic of grace in Toronto, I asked the audience about their own
experiences conveying grace to others. One woman shocked us all: "I feel
called to minister to telephone marketers. You know, the kind who call at
inconvenient hours and deliver their spiel before you can say a word."
Immediately I flashed back to the times I have responded rudely or simply hung
up. She continued:
All day long these sales callers hear people curse at them and slam the
phone down. I listen attentively to their pitch, then I try to respond kindly,
though I almost never buy what they're selling. Instead, I ask about their
personal life and whether they have any concerns I can pray for. Often they ask
me to pray with them over the phone, and sometimes they are in tears. They're
people, after all, probably underpaid, and they're surprised when someone
treats them with common courtesy.
Hearing such
stories, I am aware how often I miss possible hinge moments in my own
interactions with people. I marvel at the Toronto woman's gracious response and
think of the times I get irritated with marketers and with employees on
computer help lines who don't speak good English. I catch myself treating store
cashiers and Starbucks baristas as if they were machines, not persons … Subtly
or not so subtly, I let the other person know that I've been interrupted and
need to get back to work. In the process, I miss golden opportunities to
dispense grace. [Philip Yancey, Vanishing
Grace (Zondervan, 2014), pp. 75-76]
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
It gives us an opportunity to minister to others as God has ministered to us.
No comments:
Post a Comment