Are there people in your life that you find you are constantly pushing their buttons? Better yet, do you feel like others are constantly pushing YOUR buttons? I think if we are human and alive, we have all been there, done that, and have the t-shirt, the hat, and the bumper sticker to prove it.
Relationships are messy, difficult, painful things. We find ourselves saying and doing things that offend others when we aren't even meaning to! Or we find that we are easily offended and every day we feel like people are out to get us.
That's where the article below comes in handy. I was so encouraged and challenged by this article on love not being easily provoked that I felt it best to just pass it along to our church. The truth is, we ALL have areas in our lives where we make it difficult for others to draw near to us and to embrace us in an intimate relationship. We all have logs in our eyes. But, as the Puritan author Thomas Watson said, "
You that cannot love another because of his infirmities, how would you have God love you?"
May we always be working on our own buttons, identifying the root causes of being easily provoked, and may we be gracious with one another just as Jesus is gracious with us, walking through this life together with mercy, compassion, long-suffering, and grace characterizing our church and our homes.