Prayer: Please show me when to be a servant for You, O Lord, and when to say no. Thank You. Amen
Scripture: If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Matt. 5:39, 41-42 BSB
“Would you take my class to lunch after you teach them music? If I take them I won’t get my half hour of lunch.”
Never mind that my classroom was on one end of the very large building, and the lunch room was on the other. Never mind that I too only had a half four before another class would be at my door. Never mind that this was one of the most unruly classes I taught in that school, and I would have to stop numerous times during the trip to quiet them. Never mind that they would have to bring lunches and money with them to my class giving them something else to distract them.
This teacher made my life very difficult. Bottom line: Pauline was selfish. The year before, her class came to music immediately after lunch, and she always arrived at my door right on time to leave them and run off. She never stayed and helped me quiet them for my lesson. This time, however, we worked out a compromise that suited us both, but it might not have worked out so well.
What do we as Christians do in a situation like that? These days everyone seems to worry about violation of rights, even in school. Some things need to be taken to an administrator, but others clearly fall into the category of “Give it up! Let this sacrifice be to the praise of my Lord.” Pauline made enemies of a lot of people but not me. I learned to live with her “requirements” for the peace of the situation and so that she could see the love of Christ from me.
Maybe you face a colleague who makes demands on you that you shouldn’t have to bear. What does Jesus ask you to do about the situation so that He is glorified? Maybe He will lead you to compromise, or gently disagree, but there will be times when He will ask you to “give it up” for His sake.
Copyright Shirley Wilson. Email swilson@christianeducators.org
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