George was working on a construction job in the heat of the Carolina summer sun when someone living nearby walked into the yard where he was working. Clearly angry, the neighbor began to curse and criticize everything about the project and how it was being done. George received the verbal blows without response until the angry neighbor stopped yelling. Then he gently responded, “You’ve had a really hard day, haven’t you?” Suddenly, the angry neighbor’s face softened, his head dipped, and he said, “I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you.” George’s kindness had defused the neighbor’s wrath.
There are times when we want to strike back. To give abuse for abuse and insult for insult, anger for anger. What George modeled instead was a kindness seen most perfectly in the way Jesus bore the consequences of our sins. Peter describes Jesus’ reactions to abuse, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).
All of us will face moments when we are misunderstood, misrepresented, attacked. We may want to respond in kind, but the heart of Jesus calls us to be kind. To pursue peace. To display understanding. As He enables you today, perhaps God could use you to bless someone enduring a hard day.
