…let every man be swift to hear, slow
to speak, slow to wrath –James 1:19 (NKJV)
Anyone out there ever get off the
phone with your ex and felt like calling right back to chew them out? Or how
about when an unsavory text comes through and you feel like letting them have
it, because it’s easier to speak your mind digitally versus talking it out civilly
in person? Yeah, I thought so- me too.
Such was the case for me this past
week when I asked my daughter’s mom via text message for a small favor. All I
got back was a very short reply that did not accommodate my request. In a
moment of frustration, the thoughts ran through my mind of what I would have
really liked to say to her right then, but thank the Lord I bit my tongue. I
didn’t even take a second to remember that just like an email, text messages
can be easily misconstrued. I replied back with a simple “Ok” and let it go. To
my surprise, she texted me back within a few minutes and had changed her mind,
totally accommodating my request. This definitely would not have happened if I
had overreacted and texted her back ASAP expressing my frustration. Yes,
patience is a virtue. Later on that evening, she texted me with a simple
request of her own: I had sort of let the cat out of the bag that our daughter
was invited to a surprise birthday party and she asked me not to do that again.
I didn’t reply back that evening because although I knew I had been in the
wrong, I’m sure in an attempt to cover my own mistake I would’ve said something
totally uncalled for back to her, even though she did nothing wrong. I’ll be the
first to admit that we guys hate to be wrong- but that’s a whole nother blog
post. Fast forward a couple days later and I found myself texting her back to
apologize for telling our daughter about the party and said that I would be
more conscious in the future not to do that again. She replied back with a
simple “thank u”.
Yes, the often non-stop drama or
challenges of single and co-parenting can sometimes be quite draining, but that
is never an excuse to be disobedient concerning our walk with God. Use these
times as opportunities to grow yourself and to show Christ to your ex (or
whoever else) what a true follower of Jesus looks like. If you do, I believe
the end results will far exceed those if we were to take matters into our own
hands; God will be glorified through it all; and everyone will come out
winners- especially your children.
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