If Only I Had Known
 

If Only I Had Known

When I was young, I could never understand why our family car was so old. When it finally wore out, I could not understand why its replacement was another bottom-of-the-line model. I did not understand until I graduated from high school. At that point, my dad told me that he had saved a fairly considerable sum for my college education. That revelation explained a lot of things. If only I had known.

We often have misconceptions about why people do what they do, or why they are the way they are. This is especially true when we are continually irritated by the behavior of others. We forget that a grouchy person may be ill; or that an aloof person may never have been loved; or that a frightened person may never have known the security of an accepting family. We see behavior in others that we cannot understand because we do not know the reasons behind it. We cannot judge, but we can give love, and if there is a need for change in ourselves or in others, the love we give may be the catalyst for it.

Lord, give me the gift of understanding, and help me to avoid judging others.

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