Ephesians 4:1-6
As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg
you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be
his own. Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other
and love each other. Try your best to let God’s Spirit keep your hearts
united. Do this by living at peace. All of you are part of the same
body.
There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given
one hope when you were chosen to be God’s people. We have only one Lord,
one faith, and one baptism. There is one God who is the Father of all
people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of
us, and he lives in all of us.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
A
photo just appeared in my Facebook newsfeed of a skunk eating the food
in a dog’s bowl…and the dog standing nearby and looking on forlornly.
The caption was: “Two of the greatest qualities in life...1) patience;
and 2) wisdom. Oh, that we could learn from this puppy!
I was
reminded of my friends who returned from a trip to the beach to find a
terrible smell near one of their gutter drains. They thought it was a
dead skunk, so the husband decided to flush it out with a water hose.
Instead of a dead skunk, he discovered three very alive little skunks!
And so did their little Yorkie, who got more than she bargained for in
the process! The dog was hurriedly secured inside the house (where she
promptly rubbed skunk smell on anything and everything!).
The
skunk situation was handled by the husband, while the wife shampooed the
dog and set up an appointment for a trip to the vet and a “doggie
haircut” the next day. She laughed about it all and demonstrated
tremendous humility, patience and gentleness…with both the dog AND the
husband! After the trip to the vet, air freshener galore, and lots of
hours spent burning scented candles, the “stinky situation” was pretty
much eliminated - and all is once again well.
There are going to be “skunks” in our life that at have the potential to
ruin our day…or at the very least, to stink up the place! But we must
remember that we are all God’s creatures. And each has a place. Does
this mean that we must allow “skunks” to live in our rain gutters (or
our circle of friends) …or eat from our food bowls – and our dinner
tables? No! God gave us common sense and wisdom so that we could
discern how to manage what – and who we associate with - and the sort of
relationships we have with different people. But we must not totally
avoid such people.
We must learn to tolerate the “skunks” among
us at times…if for no other reason than that we might be their only
connection with Jesus. In us, they hopefully have the opportunity to
see Christ’s teachings in action…faithfulness, forgiveness, grace,
mercy, patience, compassion, kindness, tolerance and acceptance,
obedience, and more. We might be the only example for them of how to
operate in humility and gentleness. If we disassociate completely with
these people, we may be forfeiting a chance to witness and minister to
them.
So we must learn from the puppy in the photo and exercise
patience and wisdom. We must ask God to give us humility and
gentleness…and a heart for ALL of His creatures…even the “skunks.” I
know it’s asking a lot for some of us…but if God lives in us, He will
surely help us to do this. Won’t you ask Him to fill you with a spirit
of unity and acceptance today? Are you ready to operate with a heart
like His? Don’t you think you should be?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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