“I’ll teach you a lesson.”
That’s probably not something we always say out loud, but I wonder how often we think it. Somebody does something rude, frustrating, inconsiderate, or just plain annoying, and something in us wants to respond in a way that makes sure they know exactly how it feels.
That happened to me this week when a neighbor turned up their backyard stereo loud enough that I could hear it in my kitchen. And it wasn’t just for a few minutes. It went on for about two hours, which gave me plenty of time to think through my very spiritual and mature plan.
I thought, I could just go outside, turn my stereo up really loud, and teach them a lesson.
But the Holy Spirit was like, “Whoa, slow your roll, cowboy. Maybe you should pray about this.”
So I did. And I’m glad I did, because the music kept going for a little while, but eventually it stopped. More importantly, I didn’t have to carry any regret about my own behavior afterward.
Proverbs 19:11 says, “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook an offense.”
That verse helped me this week because overlooking an offense does not always feel glorious in the moment. Sometimes it feels like letting someone get away with something. But God sees it differently. There is wisdom in being slow to anger. There is strength in not reacting to every offense. There is glory in letting the Holy Spirit lead my response instead of letting my irritation take over.
I’m thankful the Lord stopped me before I tried to teach someone else a lesson, because He was really the one trying to teach me.