Faithbase

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. That is called the serenity prayer. I'm sure that some of you are familiar with it. Why do I bring it in? Well, I bring it in because, as you might have noticed in this channel, I try to summarize whatever happened throughout the week and give it a scriptural base as well. So, this is referring to what happened this week. By the way, if you're listening consistently, thank you so much. I appreciate it. If you want to get involved and even support this, you can look at the link down below to check how you can get involved and be active in supporting the channel. So, going back to us, what happened is I had the other night, last night, I had a phone call with this person that typically is well regarded here in town, but for some reason, when I speak with him, there is always something that doesn't click. I hear a lot of explanation from him for not stepping up with what I think should be his responsibility. And that is the heart of the problem. Sometimes our perception of what is correct or what should be right, according to our standards, varies with the perception of the other person. And this can depend on different reasons, from the way we were brought up, from our experiences, from our culture, work ethics, you know, whatever. So, this delta, this disparity between the two perceptions is what typically brings frustration or friction. And what we do is start to build resentment or sometimes even this feeling of uneasiness. And we could get even worse where we become unforgiving toward that person. So, back to my phone call. Well, Jane was in the car and she heard the first part of the conversation. And then I pulled into the garage, she came up to fix dinner. So, after I hung up and I came upstairs, she said, Pepo, your tone was a little bit scolding with this person. You could have done the same thing without being so condescending. To which I replied, hey, the guy needed to hear some sternness, because otherwise, he will continue to have excuses. And then, as we had dinner, she wanted to show me an episode of The Grinch. And it's an episode that she showed our granddaughters, you know, two days ago. And it's a story about how The Grinch became such a cynical, ill-tempered, misanthropic character. And this hit me pretty hard. And, by the way, I don't think that Jane showed me this on purpose. At least, I don't think so. But after dinner, as I was sitting on the desk and I was thinking about, you know, the topic that I wanted to share with you this weekend, it just stared me right in the face. So, what is the problem? Well, our reasonable expectations sometimes may be unreasonable from somebody else, and vice versa. So, these feelings of uneasiness, they impact the way that we behave. But we can't allow them to take over, since they're not going to improve our condition, nor do they make things smoother with the other person. And in the end, it really comes down to respect. And the one key factor to communicate respect is through the tone of our voice. It is said that people will not remember your actions, or even your words, but they will remember how you made them feel. And that was my problem. I wanted to impart a lesson, not with harsh words, but with a tone that was domineering. But then, the Holy Spirit was the one teaching me a lesson, via a few scriptures. Here are a few of them. Colossians 4, 6. Let your speech always be gracious. Season with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Proverbs 15, 1. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Another proverb, 12, 18. There is one whose rush words are like sword thrust, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Now, there is plenty more scripture that could share, but these are enough to convey the point. So, guys and gals, you may be tired, may be stressed, whatever causes you to have this altered emotion, but do not act impulsively. Take a deep breath, take a pause, because otherwise, you will lose the wrong tone, or say something that you may regret later. And remember, at the end of the day, we are responsible for our own action, not the responses of others. And if we let others control our feelings, aren't we falling in some kind of an unhealthy bondage? And finally, let me refer you to another good video that was underutilized. You have the link right up here. It is about forgiveness from a character that we saw last week, Corey Tambu. Okay, thank you for listening, and I will catch you next week. Ciao!