Know the Heart, Understand the Actions

As a side note: you can now access this blog via www.lauracoxworth.com I am very excited to call myself a Dotcom! :-)

Continuing the thoughts and refelction of my trip to Utica NY to attend Generation Conference...

If you have read the whole series you might recall that travel was not always easy or fun. There were some hiccups along the way, people with different priorities and expectations. There will always be situations in life that will bother or annoy you and what is important is how you respond- of course by "you" I mean "me!" I don't always respond well, I often get caught up in the circumstances and forget about the big picture.

I have learned to ask: In light of eternity..... does it really matter?? The answer most of the time is: not likely. One thing that I have been learning a lot about lately is to look at the heart of the person and to filter thier actions through what I know about thier character.

A few months ago, I overheard my step-mother imparting wisdom to a good friend of mine. They were discussing marriage and how to navigate the 'dumb' things that people occasionally say to one another that mght unintentionally hurt. She said "when you know the character, you can let things go". Her point was that occasionally my father will say something that mght seem hurtful, but because she knows his heart and his character, and knows that he never sets out to hurt anyone with his words, she doesn't take it personally.

This idea has been rolling around my mind and heart ever since. I have begun to see the people around me through this light. It is the idea that Love covers a multitude of sins.

Not to say that we can be careless with the words we say to those we love, on the contrary we need to be MORE cautious, but in those moments where we mess up... there is grace and love. When we were delayed getting to the service on time, was the person holding us up doing it on purpose? No, I later found out that his wife and baby were very sick and needed some attention... doesn't that change the whole view?? I have a friend who, if we are standing together in church will go away to worship. Somehow I got it in my mind that they just did not like my singing (What??? since when do I matter THAT much), but later found out that they are really easily distracted when worshipping so they move away to focus on God!

So you see: know the heart, understand the actions....

Is there someone around you whose actions you might be mis-interpreting?? Do thier actions match what you know of their heart?