When I was in high school, my dad and I were going to the store one day when a car passed us, and the girl honked and waved. I smiled, sort of waved back and made a grunting noise. Dad asked me, “Who was that?”
I explained she was one of my close friends’ ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend. Dad asked me, “Is she not a nice girl?” I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I don’t know. I guess she is.” Dad asked, “So why the grunt?”
“Because I can’t like her,” I explained to my poor, ol’ dad. What did he know about these things, anyway? He was a man. A grown man at that!
Dad said, “Don’t let your opinion of her be shaped because of what someone else thinks about her. That’s not fair to her. Get to know her yourself and make your own decision.” Knowing he was right, I stayed quiet. Dad followed up with, “I’m sure you will do the right thing, but give the girl a chance. You might find that you like her, and become friends with her!”
I am so glad I listened to my dad’s advice. I did give the girl a chance, and I did become friends with her. It’s funny how parents often know more than we do, isn’t it?
A couple of years ago, Terry and I learned someone told some other people a lie about us. “What should we do?” I asked him. “Do we confront the person? Do we tell the other people we heard what was said and tell them the truth?” Terry said, “I think in time, they’ll realize the person lied, and our faith and lifestyle will be obvious to them (the other people) and they will come to the truth on their own.”
As time went by, however, we could tell the other people looked at us differently. They treated us differently, too. They did not give us a chance to get to know us. We kept our mouths shut having the belief with time, the truth would be known.
But sometimes, people either do not look for the truth, or it’s easier to believe rumors, I don’t know. I know it hurts, and I know it is unfair, but I also know we cannot change the minds of other people. We can only keep living life, doing what is right.
“And this is what the Lord requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” - Micah 6:8 (NLT)
I have read this passage so many times, and sometimes I smile and nod. Other times, I feel my fists clench up and I ask God, “Why do we always have to be the ones walking humbly with you? Why can’t others do the right thing, too?”
But God isn’t spending time with me, working on them. He is spending time with me, working on me. And clearly I need to not care what other people say or think, and I do not want you to care, either.
We need to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.