You Got It Wrong

The world didn't come to an end after all. Harold Camping was so sure.

He got it wrong.

It has to hurt in more ways than one to be so sure of something you would even bet your life on it only to find out you were mistaken. It rocks your world and in this case ruins your reputation. Who would ever believe him again?

It is pretty amazing how we can get so consumed by ourselves and our take on things that we become blind to reality. We are SO sure of what we perceive that there is seemingly no room for correction. We work so hard building our airtight case that the views and advice of those closest to us are discarded because "they just don't get it."

The same dynamic happens in too many of our marriages. It's most clearly seen when it's too late. Statements like,"You never..." or "You always..." are simply another way of saying, "You Got It Wrong." Little things become huge barriers that make a case for each to give up learning and loving, instead we become focused on winning. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that my husband or wife will never understand me so we build our case on that premise.

One of the hard lessons that Bev and I learned early on in our marriage was that there were not as many issues in life worth going to the wall for as we thought. In other words, our petty differences were not the problem but our pride. We were more concerned about what divided us rather than who united us. By God's grace we learned to listen, love and forgive.

A verse that has become increasingly precious and practical to us is from
IPeter 4:8, "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." Isn't that to be the hallmark of the followers of Christ? Those who are quick to forgive and to be more concerned about the other than themselves? Jesus wants us to always remember that because he died for us he took our wrongs and made them right. That's got to be more important than our obsession to be right.

To truly trust in Jesus and live daily for him is what is right. And won't it be an overwhelming blessing when we see him face to face after our struggles to hear him say "Welcome home - You Got It Right!"