Saturday, March 18, 2006

Looking within myself

Whenever I say something that annoys a person, even if it’s something as simple as “Happy birthday” or “Having a good evening?”, I always tend to hand them the blame for not responding as I had hoped. But I find more and more that the answer lies with myself.

This is my new approach: when I hurt someone’s feelings, I must look first for where I went wrong: not necessarily that what I said or did had no reason behind it, or that I meant it to come out that way, but who was I thinking about when I said or did it—myself, or the other person? If I’d had a genuine interest in the one with whom I was dealing, it would have showed. On the other hand, if I was self-absorbed and trying simply to get by with as little effort as I could, that definitely would show. If we judge ourselves, we will not be judged (read 1 Corinthians 11:31).