After an incident involving a car, a dent, and a truly remorseful driver, I had the choice to let anger consume my being and potentially place a wedge between myself and someone close to me or I had the choice to choose grace.
My first reaction to hearing the news? Angry doesn’t quite cover it. I was livid. If we weren’t in a public place, I probably would have gone off on her, scolded her, made sure she knew she was in the wrong and that I was the victim. But how thankful I am that this honest mistake occurred where it did. It allowed for a different ending, a better ending.
The devil said to be angry at her. She had made a poor decision; she deserved to know the extent of my anger. However once we give the devil a foothold into our response, he tries to fuel our anger by letting dangerous thoughts creep in until our souls are consumed with venom. We then end up saying hurtful things we don’t mean but can’t take back. We end up seeking revenge. We end up driving a wedge between ourselves and those we care about. We can end up falling into the devil’s trap or choose a different path – grace.
We are called to extend grace to others like God so willingly extends to us. I knew in that moment my response needed to be one of forgiveness.
Bitterness. Animosity. Pride. Anger. Hatred. Malice. All of these do not produce the righteousness that God desires (James 1: 19). Seeking what’s fair never opens the opportunity to reveal God’s love. Rejecting His ways, His grace doesn’t allow us to fully embrace Him. Our choice to extend grace, however, does allow God to step in and rewrite a better ending.
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