Wednesday: The Mastery of Always Being Right
WEEK 50
WEDNESDAY
THE MASTERY OF ALWAYS BEING RIGHT
James 5:13-16
We now consider a new mastery—the mastery of always being right. It was a few minutes after midnight; the old year had gone, and the new year had already begun. A pastor said to me as we walked away from a watch night service, “I should have changed that first part of the service and given you more time for the closing. I’m sorry.” I laughed and said, “You’re safe. You’ll have a wonderful year. You have learned the art of saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ You know how to live.” One of the most important things in life is to learn that you don’t have to be always right. And you don’t have to defend yourself. You can say, “I am sorry. I was wrong.”
Paul didn’t hesitate to say he was wrong. “Those standing near him asked, ‘You dare to insult God’s high priest?’ Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I wasn’t aware that he was the high priest. It is written, You will not speak evil about a ruler of your people” (Acts 23:4-5). Here Paul reversed himself. His bad eyesight may have kept him from seeing it was the high priest. In any case, he said he was sorry. And he grew bigger in saying it. Only small people are always defending themselves and trying to prove themselves right. Big people feel a central rightness and can therefore put up with marginal mistakes. But small people are not sure of a central rightness; hence they have to try to hold the line at every marginal issue lest their smallness be revealed. They are always right and therefore always wrong.
The more perfect you are, the more you can put up with imperfection in others. Jesus is so perfect that he puts up with imperfections and covers them. A singer was marvelous at times but sometimes jumped the tune. His wife was a wonderful pianist. Someone came up to him at the close of a meeting and said, “You must have missed your wife at the piano tonight. She certainly covers your mistakes.” Jesus does just that. He is so perfect that he covers my imperfections. When I get off tune, he lifts his voice higher so people will hear his voice, not mine. Love covers mistakes.
O Christ, I am at your feet. Your covering of my faults converts me from those very faults. So my defenses are down. I defend nothing but your amazing love. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I shall not be afraid to reverse myself on many things, for I am centrally right in him.