August 19, Flip Flops
Week before last I was storming through the house looking for my black flip flops. Needed to put them in my work out bag for the next morning. Ask Deb where she put them. Looked in closet, vehicle, garage and on the deck. Thought I might have left them at the Y the previous morning so upon arriving asked and they had not been turned in. Asked the life guard if I had left them in the pool area, nothing. It was as if someone had stolen my flip flops. Lets be honest, there isn't a great demand for size 15 black flip flops.
After I had swam my usual 20 plus laps, lifted weights and showered a thought came to me. Wonder if I had left them in the locker I had used the day before. You see, I'm a creature of habit. I ALWAYS put my stuff in the same locker Every time! The day before someone had put their stuff in my locker (they just didn't know I had adopted this locker). I opened the locker from the day before and sure enough, there were my size 15 black flip flops. No one had stolen them, Deb hadn't put them somewhere, I just slap forgot about putting them in another locker.
Why do we want to blame others for something we had done ourself. Why do we get mad at the state trooper for writing us a ticket? We were the ones speeding. Why do students blame the teacher for their bad grades? They always say,"She gave me an F" Why do we fuss at our children for doing the exact same things we do?
Could it be that we forget what we look like ourselves? The Bible puts it this way:
James 1:22-25
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. [23] Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror [24] and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. [25] But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
We we mess up we need to man up and take the blame. If an apology is in order, do it. If we've wrongly accused someone, go and make it right.
Everyone needs to live the Word and not just read the Word!
After I had swam my usual 20 plus laps, lifted weights and showered a thought came to me. Wonder if I had left them in the locker I had used the day before. You see, I'm a creature of habit. I ALWAYS put my stuff in the same locker Every time! The day before someone had put their stuff in my locker (they just didn't know I had adopted this locker). I opened the locker from the day before and sure enough, there were my size 15 black flip flops. No one had stolen them, Deb hadn't put them somewhere, I just slap forgot about putting them in another locker.
Why do we want to blame others for something we had done ourself. Why do we get mad at the state trooper for writing us a ticket? We were the ones speeding. Why do students blame the teacher for their bad grades? They always say,"She gave me an F" Why do we fuss at our children for doing the exact same things we do?
Could it be that we forget what we look like ourselves? The Bible puts it this way:
James 1:22-25
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. [23] Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror [24] and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. [25] But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
We we mess up we need to man up and take the blame. If an apology is in order, do it. If we've wrongly accused someone, go and make it right.
Everyone needs to live the Word and not just read the Word!
Comments