Life’s Like This — Quite often we sail through life as if we are on cruise control, totally oblivious to the repercussions of our behavior. We have a mindset that we are going to do whatever we want to do no matter the personal consequences and without regard to how our behavior affects others. We don’t have to look very far to see the faults of others — we see them so often on the pages of our newspapers and plastered on the TV screens in our living rooms. But when it comes to seeing our own behavior, we are often short-sighted and clueless when our behavior is inappropriate. Our bad behavior can manifest itself in many ways. It may be the gesture you give to a passing motorist that cut you off on the freeway. It can be the way you snapped at a waitress when she got your order wrong. It can be your short temper that explodes in a fiery storm when you get upset with your spouse or children. Or it can be your lousy attitude that not only ruins your day but those who cross your path not knowing to tread carefully around you. It’s not that we are bad people — we are simply people that at times behave badly and find ourselves in need of God’s Grace.
Fortunately, grace, God’s unmerited favor, is always available for us to embrace and redeem ourselves in His eyes. But what if we extended grace to others? What if we chose to react differently to triggers that set off a chain of reactions that brought out the worst of us? What if we decided that we were going to do our best to reflect the character of Christ? How can making those choices change our behavior so that we are better able to cope with adversity and give us the peace that all of us want in life?
I believe it begins by learning to extend grace to ourselves, where we can learn to forgive ourselves for wrongs we have done to other people. If we cannot learn to forgive ourselves, then can we truly forgive others? So, when you do something wrong, go to God in prayer and ask Him to forgive you so you can rest assured that your sins are forgiven, even when you may think that whatever you did was unforgivable, know that God loves you and is there waiting to extend His grace to you. All you have to do to give the gift of grace to yourself is to tell yourself, “I forgive myself for what I did.” That’s all it takes, a simple statement, a simple prayer, and trust in God.
Life's Like This 