Considerate

Devotion for the Week...

I walk almost every day with the kids I babysit. As long as the weather cooperates, we walk for about an hour in the morning. It's the only thing that keeps me sane most days! During one walk last week, we stopped in to the grocery store for a couple of things. I was pushing the 1 year old in the stroller and the two 4 year olds were walking behind me. There were two ladies chatting in the aisle and as we went past, the two 4 years olds said, with great enthusiasm, "Gooood moooorning!" which absolutely charmed the ladies, of course. One of the ladies said, "They're such lovely children," to which one 4 year old responded, "Yes, we are!" You can imagine the laughter that followed that!

Adults are always charmed by little kids that use their manners, whether that's saying good morning to someone or remembering to say please and thank you. Really, there's not much that's cuter than hearing an unprompted 'tank ou' from a 1 year old! 

The thing is, those manners don't become less valuable as we get older, we just stop noticing them because they're expected. In adults, we don't notice when someone has good manners, we notice when they don't! 

In Philippians 4:5, in the midst of a series of instructions for how to live, Paul wrote, "Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do." The Bible is very good at giving us commands that lack wiggle room, isn't it? Did you notice the two words that take away all of our wiggle room? Let's look at it again: "Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do." It's really hard to get around words like everyone and all. 

Everyone includes the people we like, and the people we don't. It includes the people who treat us kindly, and the ones who don't. It includes the people who share our political views, our religion and our culture, and it includes the ones who share none of those. It includes the people who grate on every last nerve we've got and the ones who ignore us completely. It also includes the people who don't have the capacity to understand what is going on around them, whether because they're too young or because of dementia or disability. Everyone includes...everyone.

And 'in all you do' includes every single task and interaction that makes up our days. Waiting in the long line at the grocery store, dealing with the annoying customer, client or family member, putting up with delays and frustrations, even reading social media posts we don't agree with. I know you could make up your own list of things you have to do that you'd rather not be doing. Our consideration for others extends to those situations, too.

It's easy to be considerate when we're around people we like and who treat us well. It's a lot harder when the people around us are challenging. Likewise, it's easier in situations where we're doing what we want to do and things are going our way and harder when the circumstances are less than ideal.

"Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do." I still have plenty of work to do before I get to that level! I'm remembering what the lady at the grocery store said about the kids, though, and striving to earn the same kind of description. I'd be good with being called "such a lovely person."