It takes a lot more emotional energy to set the world straight than it does to simply forgive those who offend us and move on.
I needed to refill a prescription that I was almost out of. I called it in, but the doctor’s office had gotten behind, and the girl told me in a rather testy tone that I needed to give them forty-eight hours notice next time. Fair enough, I thought, and decided to check on Monday to see if the pharmacy had gotten the order.
They did not. By Tuesday, I had made a total of six phone calls between the pharmacy and the doctor’s office. Finally, the same girl, in the same frosty tone, said, I’m sending it over right now.
By now I felt like I was the one in the right and she didn’t need to be so snippy about things. I hung up and began to silently rehearse some well-aimed verbal missiles that would get that point across to her. As I built my case for self-defense and allowed my irritation to grow, I didn’t even think about what I was doing.
It wasn’t until I was almost at the pharmacy that it hit me. What if I started chewing out the girl at the pharmacy next, just because I was irritated at the girl at the doctor’s office? And what if she then turned around and snapped at a co-worker, who then was short with a customer? How far would my irritation go in its nasty ripple effect?
With that thought, I decided instead to forgive the original offender. After all, I had no idea what her life looked like or what pressures she faced. Most likely she had much bigger demands weighing on her than filling my prescription.
As soon as I made a choice to extend grace, I felt like a weight lift off me. I felt stress leave my body and a smile return to my face. I was able to be kind to the next person I encountered, and hopefully spread a positive ripple effect.
Grace is so much simpler and lighter than the law. Letting go and moving on is a joy.
Have you recently found yourself stewing over how people ought to treat you, and forgetting to let love cover a multitude of sins?
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