Three rules

I have a friend who serves others by being a sounding-board and councellor.  In his professional life, this meant serving in the capacity of an ombudsman, and now in retirement, he coaches folks who need encouragement in their marriages and families.  And he is very good at it.

He recently spoke to my Worldviews class about approaching the "helping" professions from a Christian viewpoint, and he shared his "3 rules of life", which he said help him to place many things in perspective and keep his expectations realistic.  He did an excellent job of showing us a biblical basis for these rules, and I can't tell you the number of times, Gentle Reader, that these and their implications have been obvious to me since he shared them.  So, here they are, in my own paraphrasing:

1.  Men are selfish.
2. Women are controlling.
3. In the end, people do exactly what they want to do.

This has made several things clear to me in my own life.  When I battle the temptation to think badly of others, it often has to do less with them and more with the fact that I would like to control them and can't. Then I know what to repent of. And all those things I always say I want to do and don't, I need to own up to the fact that I really don't want to do them or I would. Again, excellent fodder for repentance. And as I look at others, this is a helpful matrix in knowing where to begin to speak with them in love.

Today, for instance, as I "say" I want to work out, but keep not going, I am forced to re-evaluate my decision and double-check my priorities.  So, with a heavy sigh, I am off to Curves.  I will drag my sorry, old self around the circuit and exercise, because even if I don't feel like it, it is what I want to do.