Question: Are you surrounded by people who have faults?
If you are, then you need to listen to this verse from the Bible: “Make allowance for each other’s faults…” (Colossians 3:13).
You can’t control people’s faults. But you can control your response to those faults.
How? Expect imperfection. Do this one thing and you’ll remove many of your frustrations. Your relationships will be happier.
Learn to live with the imperfection of people.
Speaking about imperfection, let me share about my marriage…
My Marriage Is Fantastic
I have a fantastic marriage. Not perfect. But fantastic. Reason? My wife and I have accepted each other’s imperfections.
For example, it takes me five minutes to get dressed.
But it takes my wife two hours.
In the first three years of our marriage, this fact bothered me so much.
I’d sit in the car, enduring the agony of waiting for her. I’d grip the steering wheel so hard, if it weren’t made of steel, it would have become a pretzel. I’d grit my teeth, muttering to myself, “Why in the world does she take so much time?”
But for 10 years now, the situation has totally changed.
Mind you, she didn’t change. She still takes two hours to dress.
But I’ve changed. I’ve washed my window. I’ve accepted that as part of marrying a beautiful woman.
So what if we’re a little late? It’s not the end of the world.
Oh yes, I still sit in the car and wait for her. But I no longer endure it. I enjoy it. I enjoy the quiet. When she finally gets in the car, I say, “Hi, gorgeous…”
One more example…
How Do You Respond to Traffic
You can’t control the traffic. (Unless you happen to work as a traffic cop.)
Traffic belongs to your Area of Concern.
What can you control? You can control your response to the traffic. Are you going to blow your top or are you going to enjoy the traffic? That’s up to you.
Call me crazy, but I’ve learned to enjoy traffic. When there’s traffic, I take it as a gift from God to slow me down. To chat with the other passengers. To listen to an inspiring audio talk. To plan for a project. And if I’m not driving, to catch up on my reading
*This excerpt is taken from How to Deal with Difficult People by Bo Sanchez, available in paperback and e-book copy at http://www.feastbooks.ph!
