Loving Others
Loving others biblically is dependent on your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and is not dependent on people, circumstances, or your feelings. John C. Broger
I
need to confess. Yesterday I was not
very loving toward another person. It
was not one of my better moments. Being
a Christian means we are to love others as God loves us. I admit I let a long day, frustration and
anger get in the way of treating another person with love. Here’s the story.
Yesterday
morning I called Walmart to refill a prescription. When I entered the number the electronic
voice told me there was an issue with my prescription and that I needed to call
the pharmacy. When they opened I
called. I spoke with the pharmacist who
told me they could fill my prescription as I requested. Later in the morning I received two text
messages letting me know the prescriptions were ready to pick up.
After
work I drive to Walmart and get in line.
I admit my heart rate goes up when I pull into the pharmacy. There have been so many incidents where they
didn’t fill my prescription correctly or didn’t have any in stock, or claim
they didn’t receive the request after I’ve spoken on the phone with a live
person that anxiety fills me driving up.
There
are three cars in front of me and three more in the next lane over and more
pulling in behind me. I pick a lane and
wait. When I get up to the window I ask
the woman if they filled my prescription the way I requested. She said no.
I then tell her that I spoke with the pharmacist that morning and he
assured me it would be filled. She then says, “the pharmacist gets busy and
doesn’t always follow up”. She then tells
me that I need to pull out of line and get back in line again so they can have
time to fill it the way I requested.
Here is the unloving part. I told
her I wasn’t getting out of line and waiting another hour in the same line I
just waited in. She then went and got
another woman and she tells me “Ma’am, you need to be courteous to other
customers who are waiting and pull around and get back in line.”
I
guess they could have called the police to remove me from the Walmart
line. I could just hear the 911 call
now. “We have a woman in line at the
pharmacy who won’t get out of line and get back in line.”
At
this point I was trying real hard to channel Jesus but it wasn’t working. I didn’t yell but I calmly told her I was not
leaving until I received the prescriptions I ordered that morning. If they wanted to refill the other portion of
my prescription I would come back another time for it, but I wasn’t leaving
until I received what I ordered that morning.
The irony is that, (I timed it), one minute later she comes back to the
window and tells me the missing portion of my prescription is ready.
I
confess, I allowed frustration, my long day, (I leave my house at 5:30am and
don’t return until 6:00pm, if I don’t go to the pharmacy), to color my attitude
when dealing with another person. It
wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t what God would want me to do. If I am being more
like Jesus, I need to work on me. My
treatment of others shouldn’t be dependent on my mood, feelings or outside
circumstances.
I
ask each of you to pray for me that I will be a more loving Christian and that
I become more like Jesus.
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I blew
it yesterday. I didn’t do a good job of
reflecting who You are to another person.
Help me to value others as much as You value me. I need your help to extend grace to
others. Keep me from allowing emotions,
feelings and frustrations to color my interactions with others. I want to love as Jesus loved. I can’t do that if I can’t control what I say
and do to others. I praise You for your
mercy on a sinner like me. I don’t
deserve it, but I pray for it with everything in me.
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