I pulled out in front of someone as I was leaving the grocery store on Monday. As I drove home, I pondered what that person must have been thinking as they had to slow down to avoid a collision. I know what I would be thinking..."Crazy driver. Must be in a real hurry. Obviously doesn't care about anybody else. She should get those ear phones out of her ears." It was then it occurred to me, that none of those things are really true (okay, maybe the earphones). I'm not a crazy driver. I wasn't in a huge hurry and I really do care about other drivers; if there was a way I could have apologized, I would have. It was a matter of not being able to see past some parked cars. As I started to pull out, I was already too far in the intersection to just stop, that would've caused a bigger problem. The problem is, when we've been inconvenienced, we tend to think the worst of the other person. I know I do.
It happens anytime I'm driving in the dark. I will have my brights on, and so will the driver coming towards me. I turn mine off, they don't. I judge..."Nice of them to blind me. They obviously don't care about how their brights affect me. How would they feel if I left my brights on?!" Then, the inevitable happens, I forget to flip off my brights. God humbled me. I didn't do it on purpose. I wasn't trying to hurt the other person. My mind just wandered off with the music or thoughts about work. There was no malice intended. I pray the other driver isn't as judgmental of me as I was of the first driver.
It happens at work, and at home. I judge others based on my own (overly high) view of myself. I believe myself to be infallible, and I hold others to the same standard. If I have dinner ready when you get home from work, I expect the same treatment when I get home from work late. I get very unhappy when I come home on a Friday night and find the house empty and have to go back out for my own supper after I had cooked for them earlier in the week. I mean, the could have at least let me know they weren't going to be home so I could have stopped before I got home. I don't consider all the other things that have influenced them not being home or communicating with me. I forget that I could have called before I left work. Communication is a two-way street. It's just easier to put the responsibility on the other party.
God is continuing to grow me in this area. Every time I make an uncharitable judgment, I am immediately humbled. God brings to mind an instant when I behaved the exact same way that I am judging the other person for. He reminds me of my sinfulness, not to condemn me or to make me feel bad about myself, that's Satan's job. He reminds me of my sinfulness to humble me, to be able to see myself more clearly so that I can judge the situation for how it really is, not just by how I was affected. He forces me to consider the other person as I would want to be considered in the same situation. Praise the Lord!
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