Psalms 139:14 - I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
When I was a young adult, I used to teach children's church. I don't remember what the lesson was that I was teaching that Sunday, but I do remember the little boy in the front row. He was a wiggly little fellow, and he had gotten himself turned upside down in his chair and was quietly "sitting" there like that. None of the other children seemed to be bothered by his feet sticking up over the back of his chair and he wasn't bothering anyone at all. So rather than interrupt my lesson and ask him to sit correctly in his chair, I decided to leave well enough alone. This child obviously had a unique learning style.
Each of us is unique in our own ways. God made us to each have different personalities, different learning styles, and different interests. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Not all personality differences are pleasing to other people. I could have interrupted my lesson that Sunday to make that little boy sit up right in his chair, but that would have distracted all the other children from the lesson. So it was in the best interests of all that I chose to be patient with the little guy and over look how he sat in his chair.
Ephesians 4:1-3 says,
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
We can't attend church or work in the world without being around other people, and there will be people that rub us the wrong way because they are unique in ways that are different to what we are used to. They may not sit upside down in the pew during the sermon, but they annoy us in other ways. The verse from Ephesians gives us specific instructions on how we are to respond to these irritations.
Do you have someone in your life that messes with your patience? Keep these verses handy for those times when you might be tempted to react badly instead of respond in a godly way.
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