“Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, "This man also was with him." But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him." And a little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not." And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.”
Luke 22:56-62 ESV
Last Monday was my 38th birthday and I had a bad day. It was one day but it wasn't one that I shined very brightly. So if I was ugly to you, cut you off in traffic, or ignored your existence in the world, please don't take it personally. I am sorry.
The older I get, the more I try to slow myself down when I am forming an opinion, especially when it comes to dealing with people. I have learned that no matter what information I have about someone, no matter how I got the information, I really don't and can't know what factors in their life cause him or her to speak and behave the way they do.
In the past I have caught myself making character assessments about a person off less than one or two meetings. But if I am honest with myself, I know that there is no way one or two encounters with them can give me enough information to make an educated assessment about who they are or what kind of character they possess. My friend Kevin is a perfect example of allowing a few brief encounters to build an opinion of who he was and what I thought of him.
When I first met Kevin I couldn't stand him(and yes, I've told him so). He was everything I wasn't. He was good looking (perfect hair and teeth, you know the type i.e. Calvin Klein model), he was what I used to call a "super Christian" (You know what I mean, always there, always volunteering, always smiling and joyful), and he seemed like he always had it all together. All in all, Kevin was the anti-me. But over time, as I was privileged to spend more one on one time with him, I learned more about who he was and what he was all about. He isn't the perfect person I made him out to be but he does love people, he is as real as they come, and he greatly loves the Lord. He was with me in one of the darkest times in my life, a time that I didn't even ask him to be there but God knew exactly what He was doing, and Kevin has continued to walk with me, while I might not see him as much as I would like, he is one of my closest and most trusted friends. He has always accepted me, even when I was lost and having a bad day, week, month, or year. He has been with me when I was under great amounts of stress in my marriage and my job, when it seemed like everything was going to come unraveled. He propped me up when I couldn't stand any longer. He is a true brother in every sense of the word. It is rare that a person can be completely in character during those seasons in life but Kevin accepted me and loved me all the same.
But there is another example I want to share with you, one from the New Testament.
Other than Jesus, the apostle Peter was the greatest New Testament preacher(in my humble opinion). Nobody could get the kind of results Peter got when he was privileged to preach before a large crowd. But the funny thing is, if you ask most Christians to tell you one thing about Peter, the answer will almost always be his denial of Christ. Talk about a bad day.
Peter had a bad day. A really bad day. He promised that he would stick by Jesus if they came for him and that he would lay his life down for Christ but when it came time to pay the piper, Peter not only denied knowing who Jesus was, He did it three times.
In my study, I haven't been able to find what Peter said or did in the few days after Jesus was crucified but I would be safe to assume that he wasn't any where near his best. What I find awesome is that even after denying who Jesus was and turning his back on the Savior, his best was yet to come. It all came after Peter humbled himself before Christ and sought forgiveness. After he did that, there were hundreds of great days living for the Lord.
It is my goal to not be the guy who quickly forms opinions about anyone like I did about Kevin ever again. But it is only when I look at the world and those in my life through the eyes of God, I want to be the person that follows Jesus example in forgiving and restoring those who have gone through difficult times in their lives.
Luke 22:56-62 ESV
Last Monday was my 38th birthday and I had a bad day. It was one day but it wasn't one that I shined very brightly. So if I was ugly to you, cut you off in traffic, or ignored your existence in the world, please don't take it personally. I am sorry.
The older I get, the more I try to slow myself down when I am forming an opinion, especially when it comes to dealing with people. I have learned that no matter what information I have about someone, no matter how I got the information, I really don't and can't know what factors in their life cause him or her to speak and behave the way they do.
In the past I have caught myself making character assessments about a person off less than one or two meetings. But if I am honest with myself, I know that there is no way one or two encounters with them can give me enough information to make an educated assessment about who they are or what kind of character they possess. My friend Kevin is a perfect example of allowing a few brief encounters to build an opinion of who he was and what I thought of him.
When I first met Kevin I couldn't stand him(and yes, I've told him so). He was everything I wasn't. He was good looking (perfect hair and teeth, you know the type i.e. Calvin Klein model), he was what I used to call a "super Christian" (You know what I mean, always there, always volunteering, always smiling and joyful), and he seemed like he always had it all together. All in all, Kevin was the anti-me. But over time, as I was privileged to spend more one on one time with him, I learned more about who he was and what he was all about. He isn't the perfect person I made him out to be but he does love people, he is as real as they come, and he greatly loves the Lord. He was with me in one of the darkest times in my life, a time that I didn't even ask him to be there but God knew exactly what He was doing, and Kevin has continued to walk with me, while I might not see him as much as I would like, he is one of my closest and most trusted friends. He has always accepted me, even when I was lost and having a bad day, week, month, or year. He has been with me when I was under great amounts of stress in my marriage and my job, when it seemed like everything was going to come unraveled. He propped me up when I couldn't stand any longer. He is a true brother in every sense of the word. It is rare that a person can be completely in character during those seasons in life but Kevin accepted me and loved me all the same.
But there is another example I want to share with you, one from the New Testament.
Other than Jesus, the apostle Peter was the greatest New Testament preacher(in my humble opinion). Nobody could get the kind of results Peter got when he was privileged to preach before a large crowd. But the funny thing is, if you ask most Christians to tell you one thing about Peter, the answer will almost always be his denial of Christ. Talk about a bad day.
Peter had a bad day. A really bad day. He promised that he would stick by Jesus if they came for him and that he would lay his life down for Christ but when it came time to pay the piper, Peter not only denied knowing who Jesus was, He did it three times.
In my study, I haven't been able to find what Peter said or did in the few days after Jesus was crucified but I would be safe to assume that he wasn't any where near his best. What I find awesome is that even after denying who Jesus was and turning his back on the Savior, his best was yet to come. It all came after Peter humbled himself before Christ and sought forgiveness. After he did that, there were hundreds of great days living for the Lord.
It is my goal to not be the guy who quickly forms opinions about anyone like I did about Kevin ever again. But it is only when I look at the world and those in my life through the eyes of God, I want to be the person that follows Jesus example in forgiving and restoring those who have gone through difficult times in their lives.
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