Kitchen Sink-ing
Theme of the Week: Release from Resentment
Monday, October 27, 2003
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Key Bible Verse: Love … does not brood over injury (1 Corinthians 13:5, NAB). Bonus Reading:Matthew 18:21-35
When a conflict erupts, do you "kitchen sink"—toss in every conceivable negative thing you can imagine?
"You never called to say you were going to be late, on top of never even making a restaurant reservation," she complains. "What's more, you didn't pick up the dry cleaning last week, and you left your dirty laundry all over the bedroom."
"Apparently you don't remember talking on the phone for more than an hour so I couldn't get through to you. Just like you did last week and the week before," he retaliates. "And I wouldn't have to make a restaurant reservation if we ever had a hot meal on the table like you keep promising."
So why do I do it? Why do I keep score? Because I feel I'm a decent person who was wrongly hurt. Because I believe that if I reveal how out of kilter the scales of justice are, the other person will see the truth and feel compelled to rectify the imbalance. But it doesn't work that way. A record of wrongs only drives the offender farther from my circle of love. It builds a barrier that hardens my hopeful heart, as well as the heart of the one I love—or used to.
—Les Parrott in Love Is …
My Response: A relationship in which I need to wipe the slate clean is …
Thought to Apply: Every person should have a special cemetery lot in which to bury the faults of friends and loved ones.
—source unknown
Adapted from Love Is … (Zondervan, 1999) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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I'm tired, Lord, of being governed by grievances. Please show me how to break loose from vindictiveness.
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