1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT), “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
There are so many teachable moments in life and it makes me smile when I see the different ways they appear. On Monday, I picked up my youngest son from Kindergarten and he had a rough day. He went to school that morning tired and crabby and didn’t feel like being bothered much. So when his friends tried to play with him as they usually do, he wasn’t feeling it. So he ended up not displaying the Fruits of the Spirit towards his classmates. He was short with them, on edge, just not being very kind at all. Because of this his teacher pulled him aside a few times during the day to talk to him. He understood what he did wrong and apologized to his classmates.
The teacher sent us an email letting us know what happened, so we discussed this with him. He was upset that we knew because he felt he had disappointed us and we would love him less. So of course, I reassured him that we would always love him no matter what mistakes he made. But having said that, there are still consequences for what you did today in school you have to deal with. That meant no dessert and no playing basketball that evening. And for him the not being able to play basketball was a tough one to swallow. 🙂
I told you all this story to show you how even the actions of a 5 year old going through his day can mirror our own daily struggles as adults. First, each of us has had those days when you wake up and just don’t want to be bothered by anyone. They haven’t done anything to you but because of your sour mood you’ve decided everyone is the enemy. Right there, you know your actions are not reflective of the spirit Christ wants you to have. Regardless of how you are feeling, our calling is to treat everyone around us with love and respect. Unfortunately many times we fail at that. At those times reflect on 1 John 3:18 (NLT), “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other, let us show the truth by our actions.”
Second, no matter how much you mess up during the day our God never stops loving us. Sometimes when we make mistakes our reaction is much like my 5 year old son. You feel that our Heavenly Father is disappointed in you and won’t love you as much because of it. This makes you feel worse about your failing. But just as I am with my son, our Heavenly Father may be disappointed in your actions but He will never stop loving you, no matter what. In John 15:9 (NLT) Jesus tells us, “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.”
Third, when you make mistakes there are still consequences you have to deal with. Yes, God has forgiven you for the mistake and you can move forward. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to face those consequences whatever they may be. The response you are to have is to own up to the mistakes, deal with the consequences and learn from them. The overall goal is to never make that mistake again.
Throughout your day situations like these will present themselves as opportunities for you to learn. God will even use the struggles of little children to show us reflections of our own adult lives. Take time to learn from these opportunities and work to become more of who God calls you to be. Understanding that bad days will come but it doesn’t stop God from loving you!
Truth In Love! ~ Chuck