A year ago or so my husband had an argument over the phone with one of his relatives who is a little older than him. F. My husband is such a gentle soul, I have very rarely heard him raise his voice. Most of the time when he gets frustrated at work or elsewhere, he would just come home and spend sometimes in prayer, then talk to me (mainly because I won’t let him rest before I get to the bottom of what happened); and inevitably he would finish with “it’s okay, I forgive”.
That day after he hung up, I could see how upset he was. He went outside, sat on our garden bench for quite sometimes. Then came back home and said to me ” I’m going to call him back and apologize.”
My reaction at first was “why?” I knew he didn’t do or say anything wrong. I knew this altercation wasn’t his fault, and mostly I knew that if someone had started it, it wasn’t him not only because I overheard the conversation, but also because I knew the other guy and could testify how sometimes he could be a bully. Of course, I would stand on my husband side! And no, I couldn’t let this guy have his way this time! So you can easily imagine my reaction when F. told me “I will call him back and apologize.”
I was stuned. I couldn’t understand him. Then he said “I want to be excellent to my God!”
I was looking at him as he was grabbing the phone so sad and so broken, and I saw a man courageous and strong, humble and gracious.
This is how the Lord taught me a lesson about being the greatest!
I can tell you if I had loved and respected my husband before; I had an even greater love and an even deeper respect for him that day. I understood how much courage, self denial, and moral strength it takes to ask for forgiveness especially when it’s not one’s fault.
The Lord could tell his disciples in John 13:13-15 “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” What does it mean to wash others feet if not to serve them. And what does it mean to serve if not to humble oneself. And He goes even further in the book of Mark 10: 42-45 talking to His disciples the Lord Jesus states: “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Be the slave of all. In other words “esteem others better than himself” according to the apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians 2:3. For a slave has no other right but to serve and be contented with performing his tasks in all humility and abnegation.
Until today, I believe this is one of the most difficult exercise in a disciple’s life, but it is also a valuable scale of our growth in the Lord. The ultimate goal of this all being to be at the image of Jesus Christ our Lord; This will not happen without dying to ourselves and serving others. In the process we might be confronted to bruised ego, broken dreams, scoffs, or sometimes a deep feeling of loneliness and unfairness. These are inevitable corollaries of a disciple’s walk. It is not easy, but no one said it would be.
If you are facing this kind of challenges, I would like by my humble voice to encourage you to persevere. You might eventually see the results of your prayers and patience in the work that God is going to do around you. And if not let the peace and joy of knowing that you are doing what is right to the sight of the Lord be your consolation and your reward.
Remain blessed.