It's easy to sense disrespect. In my life, when people give me unsolicited advice, I see that as a sign of disrespect. I also feel disrespected when people respond to me with sarcasm, or when they use a condescending tone of voice.
When I feel disrespected, I feel angry. I feel hatred. A lot of times I don't know how to respond and just let bitterness grow in my heart. Sometimes I respond with a sharp word or a flat-out "that's rude." But I am learning not to.
I am learning to say "NO!" to the hatred and bitterness in my heart and to embrace forgiveness.
This is the hardest lesson I am learning lately. I have realized that God does not just love people who respect Him-- his love extends to everyone. How am I, as a Christian, any different from the world if I only love people I like?
This summer, before I went to BC, I was home for about a month and I was unemployed. So I got a lot of babysitting gigs with my hurricane of a four-year old neighbour. At first, I dreaded spending time with this boy, because-imagine this-I found it boring to entertain him! I am not one of those people who kids are naturally attracted to, and entertaining a four-year old boy for hours at a time is something that makes me exhausted. So I prayed about it, and I realized I was given an incredible opportunity to invest love into this small child's life! God just filled me with such a love for him and after that, I looked forward to spending time with him. And he enjoyed spending time with me, somehow! This just made me realize that when we feel like we have no more energy left to love people, God somehow gives us more.
So that is what I am praying for these days- just that God will give me a superhuman ability to love those around me, despite how I currently feel about them. For that is the only way to confront disrespect, and to confront the bitterness in my own heart: with God's love!
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