Topic: Guard Your Reactions [Saturday June 10,
2017]
He who rebukes a scorner heaps upon himself
abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man gets
for himself bruises. Reprove not a scorner, lest he
hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love
you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will
be yet wiser…. — Proverbs 9:7-9 AMPC
It has been statistically proven that 10 percent
of people will never like you, so stop trying to
have a perfect record with everyone and start
celebrating who you are. A person who knows
how to live independently does not allow the
moods of other people to alter hers.
A story is told of a Quaker man who knew how
to live independently as the valued person God
had created Him to be. One night as he was
walking down the street with a friend, he
stopped at a newsstand to purchase an evening
paper. The storekeeper was very sour, rude, and
unfriendly. The Quaker man treated him with
respect and was quite kind in his dealing with
him. He paid for his paper, and he and his friend
continued to walk down the street. The friend
said to the Quaker, “How could you be so
cordial to him with the terrible way he was
treating you?” The Quaker man replied, “Oh, he
is always that way. Why should I let him
determine how I am going to act?”
Lord, help me to not allow others to steal my
joy and peace by the things they say and do. I
want to be kind and cordial, but I won’t let my
mood to be controlled. Amen.
