Belittling Grace

I was in the same area as someone who was making belittling comments to another person about a mutual friend of theirs. I wanted to say something like, Isn't so and so one of your friends?" I realized that it would be counterproductive to get involved in drawing attention to how wrong this behavior, because in the process I would be belittling the person who made the comment to put them in their place.

 Well, after prayerful consideration, realizing that person wouldn't change their behavior even if I drew attention to it, I said a brief prayer. I prayed for Belittling Grace, because I didn't want all that frustration toward that person in my heart. Once I said the brief prayer, Christ knew I wanted to be an example of His grace in my life. He gave me a calm feeling, when I had been upset a few minutes prior to that, which wouldn't have been the case if I had continued to stand there fuming over the belittling comments.

Example of a Brief Prayer

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Acts 15:11

I was with someone who was scooping up some free popcorn. They didn't ask me if I wanted any. The person told me that I should get a bag of popcorn and then took it from my hands. They wanted me to get the popcorn for them to eat later.

It's such a silly thing, but it really did irritate me. Didn't that person think about whether I wanted some or not? Couldn't they have asked me if I wanted some before they took it from my hands? I found myself getting frustrated at that person. Then, it popped into my mind that that's not what Christ wants of me. He wants me to be gracious to those who irritate me, but I was too frustrated to be gracious at that moment.

What I prayed was, "Popcorn Grace," and immediately Christ calmed me down, so that I didn't respond to the person in a less than positive manner. Although the "Popcorn Grace" prayer was very brief, I was asking Christ to please give me grace with this popcorn situation, so I would respond in a gracious manner, and He did! It amazed me that He knew and understood my brief prayer and granted me that grace, so I could be more gracious as an example of how He works in my life! I have continued to use these brief prayers which are changing my life and my response to others. If Christ can do this for me, He can most certainly do it for you, as well. Try it...what can it hurt?