As Far as it Depends on Me

There is always going to be two sides to every story.  We are all different and view life through our own eyes.  I was reminded about this the other day when Emma was talking to her mother on the phone and said something that "Alli" had said that wasn't all true.  There was a bigger picture that she was leaving out.  Of course she was, she is almost five and was just making conversation.  It wasn't even a big deal for her.  However, I felt myself wishing she would have included the other side of the story.

This made me think of how true that is in my life.  I have spent so much energy wondering what people think of me and what I can do to change it.  The truth of the matter is we cannot run around as the "word police" and enforce people to say the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  We cannot listen in on every phone call, be carbon copied on every email, sit in on every conversation, etc.  We also cannot be someone's Holy Spirit.

I am realizing just how important it is to understand that I do not have the whole story on anything.  God is the only one who knows everything, sees everything, and hears everything.  The Holy Spirit is listening and is present in our daily lives.  He does not take bathroom breaks :-).  There are things about my life that are (unfortunately) very true.  They are things in my past that I constantly want to bring up again and again to make sure people understand I am not the same, nor will I ever be the same.  Also, I want to make sure they still 'like' me.  But that is simply not my job.  It is not up to me to decipher what people are thinking and if it is right or wrong for them to think that way.

Because none of us has the whole story, we simply cannot give full disclosure to every incident that goes on in our lives.  This has convicted me to watch what I say.  I heard a phrase a long time ago that has stuck with me all these years.  It poses the question..."Are there people whose names are not safe in your mouth?"  Ouch.  I must confess that it seems in every season there has been someone or several whose names have not been safe in my mouth.  Yet I want mine to be safe in everyone elses'.

So what now?  I have committed a verse to my memory to help me with this.  Romans 12:17-18 says, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." 

I cannot control anyone else but me.  This Scripture says clearly that it is up to us to live at peace with everyone.  Sure...it may not produce peace in my relationships, but it does produce peace in my heart.  We cannot control what people say about us or how others receive information about us, but we can control how it affects us.  I have found time after time that when my heart is saturated with concerns of what others think, I can no longer focus on what God thinks and says.  

So as far as it depends on me, I want to live at peace with God and others...and THAT, I can control with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  This is my prayer...not for today, but for my life.