Butter Beans…Yuck!

Have you ever had to eat something you just could not stomach?  I remember when I was around 10 years old my mom made me eat butter beans one night at dinner.  I was never a picky eater even as a child but I was less than happy about having to consume butter beans.  Shortly before bedtime I got sick.  To this day I hate butter beans, I hate Lima beans too, mostly because they look like a little green version of a butter bean.  Why am I telling you this disgusting childhood story?  It made me think about how bad experiences can leave a bad taste in our mouths.  I am sure you can think of bad experiences you have had.  I tend to do the same thing with names, I hear a name and I cringe because it brings back up a bad memory.  What I think is so crazy is I cannot remember some really amazing things in my life but I can remember in living color the night of the butter beans!

I wonder if we gave a little more thought to what people would remember about us if it would change how we act or what we say?  When people see you coming does their stomach churn, would they cringe if your name was mentioned as one to name a future baby coming into their family?  We live in such a hateful and selfish time, take notice next time you are out running errands how people feel entitled when driving, waiting in lines, ordering at a restaurant and so on.  If we are to be a light to those around us then we should not look like the world.  This is really hard, even for Christians.  I have always heard the line “Christians aren’t perfect just forgiven,” although that is true that is not a license to sin. Yes, when we lose control that is sin.  If we have Christ in us we should look and sound different.  We should not be controlled by our circumstances.  I love Proverbs!  Proverbs 16:24 says “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, making people happy and healthy.”  Wouldn’t you love to be known as someone that makes people happy and healthy?  What could change around you if you started exercising that verse in your own life.  Proverbs 16:32 says “Patience is better than strength.  Controlling your temper is better than capturing a city.”  We do not always have to be right or to prove we are right..

I see over and over again, we are the reason we give others around us a bad taste.  It could be in your home, with your own family.  They see you lose control, they hear you say things that should not come out of your mouth.  Our homes should be a place of peace and refuge.  If we truly have that in our homes it should automatically spill out into the community that you associate with.  If yours is not, then I encourage you to examine your own heart.  What sets you off?  What would be the best steps to changing the way you respond?  Take a moment and think of all the times you have messed up or been ugly, well maybe not all of them that could take a while if you are like me!  What if God did not have grace on you?  What if he has not had others show you grace?  Maybe you should figure out how you can be a grace giver, to your family, to the store clerk you deem incompetent, to your waitress at dinner…the possibilities are endless.  Everyday is a fresh start where you are given new opportunities to extend grace, maybe even uncommon grace in light of a situation.

Sometimes being a grace giver starts with apologizing for our response and actions.  I have forgiven my mom for the butter beans, just in case you were wondering.  Let’s try not to leave a bad taste in the mouths of those around us.  Who knows maybe I will give butter beans another shot!  Well, Probably not…think about that a minute.

Until next time…