It’s thundering and lightning as I write this (editor’s note: I wrote this on Wednesday, August 9th, the day before the massive storm that knocked out power to half the city), and the view outside is rather glum and bleak, so maybe that has contributed to my thought process today. I dunno. I do know that these words have come to mind, and I want to share them…

Sometimes people wrong you… Maybe they ignore your attempts to say hello in passing, or maybe they never text you back after you reached out to them. Maybe they say something that rubbed you the wrong way.

Then again, maybe they just didn’t hear you say hello. Maybe the text message never came through. Maybe they had no idea how their words came across.

Maybe you never went back to them and said hello a second time. Maybe you never called to make sure they were okay. Maybe you never went to them and said “did you mean to say that like this…?”

If you had gone to them, they could have laughed and said hello and apologized for failing to hear you (though an apology isn’t actually needed in that case, but it’s polite to do). If you had gone to them, they could have thanked you for reaching out and apologized for not texting you back (even though it was the phone’s fault, not theirs, but it’s polite to do). If you had gone to them, they could have clarified their words and apologized for nothing considering how they might have been interpreted.

Sometimes people wrong you. Sometimes they never meant to. How tragic that you might be harboring a grudge against someone who has no idea that they have hurt you. How sad that someone might be deprived of your good company because you have felt the need to withdraw yourself from them, instead of going to them to make things right.

The Bible does not tell us to snub people, to whisper about people, to make snide remarks about people, or to be passive-aggressive toward people. The Bible tells us to give the benefit of the doubt. The Bible tells us to go talk to those who have wronged us. The Bible tells us to be patient, merciful, and forgiving.

So let’s.

That’s it. That’s the devo today.

~ Matthew.