CHOOSE BEING KIND OVER
BEING RIGHT
Proverbs 19:22
"What is desirable in a
man is his kindness... "
Ephesians 4:32
"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each
other, just as God in
Colossians 3:12-14
"So, as those who have been chosen
of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each
other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as
the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these
things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. "
Notice that it is a choice.
You can choose to be kind, or you can choose to be unkind. It's
all up to you and it's your decision one way or the other.
One of the most important
questions you can ever ask yourself is, "do I want to be "right"
- or do I
want to be happy?" Many times you can't have them both at the same time.
Always having to be right -
defending our positions, takes an enormous amount of
mental energy
and often causes the anger mode to kick in and thus alienating us from the ones
we want to be closest to. Needing to be right - or needing someone else to be wrong - causes
others to be defensive, and puts pressure on
us to keep defending.
Wherein, if you put aside your need to be "right", and defer to the other (being kind), you build great
relationship. And, after all, God is very
interested in our relationships - just notice all that he has to say about it
in the Bible.
It's not that it's never
appropriate to be right - sometimes you genuinely need to be or want
to be. Usually, however, it's just your ego creeping in and ruining an
otherwise peaceful encounter - a habit of wanting or needing to
be right.
A wonderful, heartfelt,
kind strategy for becoming more peaceful and loving is to practice allowing
others the joy of being right - give them the glory. Stop correcting. As hard as
it may be to change this habit, it's worth any effort and practice
it takes. The people in your life will become less defensive and
more loving. They will appreciate you more than you could ever have dreamed possible, even if
they don't exactly know why. You'll discover the joy of participating and witnessing other people's happiness, which is
far more rewarding than a battle of egos. You don't have to sacrifice your
deepest philosophical truths or most heartfelt opinions, but, starting today,
let others be "right," most of the time!
And, remember, kindness begets kindness. Try it and see!
