Not Wanting to Be Hurtful

At church last week, the sermon had a lot of things with which I disagree.  I can itemize them all in this post, but I don’t want to do that.  Instead, I’ll look for common ground and identify where I agreed.

The pastor was talking about conflict.  He asked us if we really want to say something hurtful to someone else, something that would make that person cry.  I have to admit that I would not want to be that hurtful.  And, if I were that hurtful, I should apologize to that person.  But it is better not to be that hurtful in the first place.

As the pastor said, though, hurt people hurt people.  That is why I need to pray continually to God for God to set my heart at peace, or at least to give me self-control so that I do not blow up at people.

That doesn’t mean that I can never stand up for myself or stand up to people when they are being out of line.