Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2, NIV).
My neighborhood was resurfaced recently. It looks much better. But to get to this point, there were days we had to move our cars and days we couldn’t drive on it. It’s always an ordeal to get the street looking nice, but it’s also always worth it. Of course, some people were angry about it all.
As is the case with most neighborhoods, especially those with HOAs, there are busybodies and snitches: those who break the rules, and those who tell on those who break the rules. People are upset over one thing or another. With more rules comes more opinions.
Some were upset that human footprints marked the sidewalks after resurfacing (because some didn’t follow the rule of not walking on the road until it was completely dry). There were angry voices, people so “upset” that others didn’t follow the rules. Because of the uproar, the HOA released a letter, explaining how things would be remedied, and people calmed down.
It all could’ve been avoided, no letter issued even, if gentleness had been involved. It goes back to tone. Nothing wrong with being angry, but angry people tend to get angry responses. Gentle people, in turn, tend to get gentle responses. It reminded me that a gentle answer turns away wrath, and so much wrath could have been avoided if my neighbors had been gentle with their tone over very simple - and very inconsequential - things.
Lord, give me the strength to choose gentleness in everything I do.
Finch Food for Thought: Not everything needs your opinion - let it go!