And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Luke 6:31

As humans, we have something embedded deep inside of us that longs for approval and adoration. We want to feel loved. We want to feel important. We want to be respected and not forgotten. We want to be forgiven. We want to know that people have our best interest at heart. However, when we are interacting with others do we focus on making them feel that same way? When someone makes us angry do we focus on what caused them to act that way, or are we just focused on getting even? It’s easy to get caught up in our own emotions from day to day. Maybe someone hurt our feelings, maybe someone ignored us, or maybe someone invited someone else to go with them to eat. These acts, intentional or not, can really get us down in the dumps. It is so hard to overcome these feelings of insecurity. And even though it is hard when we feel slighted, we still need to treat others the way we want to be treated. No matter what they have done. No matter what they have said. It is so important to rise above these situations and extend the love of Christ to every single person. Being nice to someone who is not nice to you may just change their perspective. It may be the only glimpse of Jesus that they ever see. No matter how hard it is for us to swallow our pride, and no matter how hard it is for us to hold our tongue, this type of self-control is definitely a characteristic of the type of person Jesus is calling us to be.

Dear God, today I want to focus on treating others with the kindness and love that I hope to be treated with. And even if the person that I cross paths with is having a bad day or a bad month, remind me to push my emotions to the side and treat them how you would treat them. Remind me that I do not know what they are going through. My patience and love could be exactly what they need. Amen.