assumptions

Consider, for a moment, the idea of assuming the best about someone else. We are so quick to judge others based on what they look like, what they do, and what they say. (Or this is my problem anyway.) Sure, actions and words may tell a bit about a person, but do we really know the heart of every one? Do we really know the whole story?

Hypothetical Situation #1: A husband promises to have supper started when the wife gets home from her stressful 12-hour day. When the wife gets home, it is obvious that supper has not been started. There is little food in the fridge, the restaurants are closed, and everyone in the house is hungry. Immediately, the wife gets frustrated, and by the time she finds her husband, she's boiling inside.

Hypothetical Situation #2: You're driving behind a very slow pick-up on US-75 between Sabetha and Holton. You want to pass this slowpoke, but a driver behind you beats you to it and passes both you and the pick-up. A natural reaction might be fury.

In both situations, do we ever stop to think that the "guilty" person might have a reasonable explanation? James warned us..."let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger..." (James 1:19). Paul taught us in Romans 12:3 "not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think" but "in humility count others more significant than yourselves" (Philippians 2:3).

Maybe the husband in HS1 stopped to help an old woman on the side of the road whose car had broken down, so he didn't have time to start supper. Perhaps the crazy driver who passed you had a wife in labor and needed to rush her to the hospital. Why do we always assume the worst--that the husband in HP1 is an inconsiderate, selfish bum and that the crazy driver in HS2 is a dirty, rotten scoundrel with a bad case of road rage? Maybe we're wrong!! Instead of harboring anger and counting the maybes as rock-solid truths, why don't we assume the better? Is it wrong to make up a "maybe" excuse for someone else?

I'd venture to say that assuming the best of someone else can turn a selfish, self-righteous, judgmental attitude into a humble one, a gentle one, a patient one, a forbearing one. And this is choosing to love.