On many occasions during my lifetime I have been bumped into by people accidentally and never thought much about it. Most people, that know me, will tell you I am pretty even tempered, easy to get along with, but will tell you what I think because I am somewhat opinionated. My wife will tell you that the older I get the more opinionated I get!
During these years that I have been blessed to have on earth I have also witnessed many other people getting bumped into accidentally, sometimes making them spill their coffee, tea, or whatever they were drinking. Many of these people have reacted graciously and forgiven the offenders but many have really lost their cool and gotten into heated arguments and word exchanges.
I remember a time when I was in the military and was stationed in California. A friend of mine, who I was riding with in his red super sport Chevrolet, came to a Dairy Queen and we stopped for some ice cream. We were parked and another car pulled up beside us. When the guy next to us opened his door he hit my friend’s car with his door not meaning too. He really didn’t bang the car but did touch it and there was no damage whatsoever. He apologized but my friend went ballistic, a characteristic I had never seen before from him.
The point of this story is that we are what we have inside us. I had never seen my friend lose his temper as he did this day but I came to find out later that he had a lot of pent up feelings from his past and he was releasing these feelings on someone he had never seen before over a very minor situation.
There are many people in the world today that will display what is inside of them should you bump them and make them spill their drink. Many harbor resentment for something from the past. Many will display an ugly attitude because someone hurt them and they haven’t found forgiveness in their heart due to whatever the situation was. Sometimes people are just unforgiving and looking for a situation to display their ugliness inside of them. Our temperament is usually an inborn trait of ours that will display our true character and personality.
What do we display when life hands us something we are not prepared for? How do we handle tough situations and what is going to spill out from us as a reaction? Are we going to spew out bitterness or are we going to display forgiveness, joy, peace, and humility?
Our character will display our real being, emotions, attitude, and motivation. Our personality will express who we are and it will display our character if we are honest in our reactions.
When you are bumped or hurt by someone, what spills out of you? Is it the worldly response or it is a spirit filled response? Remember what Jesus told us in John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing…”
