Sometimes I do to others as I would have them do to me, but I’m not really happy about it.
I’m sitting at a traffic light with one car ahead of me and running late for a meeting. The light turns green. Five seconds go by, and the vehicle ahead hasn’t moved. The driver is texting and hasn’t checked the traffic signal. This particular light stays green very briefly, so I give the shortest possible beep. The driver looks up, makes an unfortunate gesture, and proceeds through the intersection as the light turns from yellow and then to red. I am left to wait for the next green light.
Recall the passage from Ephesians 4:30-32
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Believers can grieve the Spirit and cause him to suspend operation in our lives. At the root of the list in the passage above is bitterness. Often, unfortunate behavior like wrath, anger, and slander begins with bitterness.
I struggle with bitterness at times. But I have a strong desire to keep the Spirit alive within me. I try to find ways to stop myself from becoming bitter or quickly process the bitterness before it manifests itself into behavior that doesn’t honor Christ.
The daily commute is a hotbed of opportunity for bitterness. We drive in an eco-system far different than that of the corporate workplace. On the road, there is no HR department, no management hierarchy. I haven’t earned the respect of my fellow drivers like I have with my colleagues in the workplace. Additionally, there is no tie between how I treat others on the road and my salary increase, bonus, or stock grants.
Rather than suspend the Spirit for my entire commute, I strive to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. I don’t know what kind of day the driver who left me at the traffic light had before our interaction. Maybe they were texting due to an emergency.
As the passage in Ephesians tells us, be kind to one another. In doing so, we become tenderhearted, enabling us to forgive one another. People respond, and relationships remain healthy. Paul’s instructions allow us to love and remain in the Spirit. Bitterness leads to hateful behavior and grieves the Spirit.
From those we meet on the road to our elected officials, forgive them, love them, pray for them and rejoice in the good they do. The Spirit will remain active in your life, and you will lay up treasures on earth and in heaven. In the next blog, I will provide some useful resources.