Today I made a stupid mistake. I met up with two of my old High School friends, David and Cacey, to go to the mall today. David was the guy who interned at Oracle over the summer and came to one of our A2F blue's bible study. And Cacey is my best friend =)
While we were driving back, we suddenly touched on the topic of evil, and David quips, "I don't believe in sin." I reply, "Well "sin" may seem like a strong word, but its definition is just the word "wrong." David replies, "I don't believe in wrong or right." I suddenly got angry. I said, "So you don't believe a man who rapes a thousand girls and tortures them before he kills them is wrong? There's a moral standard in this world." I think I said it too harsh because he starts to retort in this very philosophical voice, "You're talking about the absolute-" before my brother (he was the driver) cuts him off and says, "guys, calm down."
David said something else, but I was too blinded by my anger to hear. I said "Why don't you read the "Reason for God" book I gave you over the summer and maybe then you'll understand." He replies, "Umm...I don't think so." His tone made his words seem final. That's when I yelled back, "Fine, then give it back to me."
I know...stupid stupid stupid stupid. I know I shouldn't have said that. I know I shouldn't have reacted so strongly. I wonder what I could have said differently in reply to his question, and then I wish I could have been patient enough to listen to every word he said before I argued anything back. This taught me a big lesson. Listen carefully before you speak. And always, "emotional intelligence." The hardest part of emotional intelligence is: "Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power, that is not easy" - Aristotle.
Please don't make the same mistake I did. This was a backward step for me to introduce the gospel to 2 people over Winter Break. Now I have to take two steps forward.
But before I do that, I need to apologize to him.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
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3 comments:
hey! i saw your missed call, and i called back and left a message. (and my message is like more than 2 minutes long because i didn't realize i hadn't ended the call...HAHA) was it about this?
hmmmmmm. i've been stressing about the two people we're supposed to share our testimony with over the break too. i envision all these scenarios (most of them ending in immediate acceptance HAHA). to battle my anxiety, i pray a lot about it, and i suggest praying about this situation too.
patience! hear the other person out. gently formulate the Gospel; don't vomit it all out at once with an indignant tone. whooo i hope i listen to this advice too!
aww Lily, thanks so much for sharing. I really understand you, surprisingly. Today, I had an argument with my parents over Christianity, because I realized that fundamentally they don't believe in parts of the gospel. -_- boy, was I frustrated.. that's the least of it.. but yeah, let's pray pray pray Lily, i'll talk with you more in a few weeks, but I'll be praying for you too, and be assured in knowing that God is pleased with our efforts and even in suffering for the gospel
on another note, we're supposed to share our testimony with two people over break?! why didn't i get the memo? haha
Yeah it happens...but before anything else, we must pray for God's grace.
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