“Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.” Proverbs 24:29
Reflections are an enlightening phenomenon. There is no hiding reality. I was standing in a lobby, having conversations, enjoying the day when a lady discreetly informed me that I had something stuck in my teeth. Embarrassed, I rushed to the closest mirror and was disappointed to realize she wasn’t playing a prank on me. How many conversations had I participated in before she said something?! Without looking into the mirror and seeing my own reflection staring back, I could pretend everything was okay. But when confronted with my reflection in the mirror, there was no denying reality. Getting a piece of a snack stuck in my teeth may seem like a silly example, but it spawned a thought: our behavior is not a reflection of anyone else, it is an undeniable reflection of ourselves. When I was standing in the lobby, conversing with people all the while with something stuck in my teeth, nothing about my behavior or dental hygiene was a reflection of the people with whom I was conversing. It was only a reflection of me.
So it is when we find ourselves on the receiving end of behavior we don’t prefer to receive. Their behavior toward us is not a reflection of us, it is a reflection of them. Choosing to return their poor behavior with poor behavior of our own does not generate a reflection of them back to themselves. Isn’t that why we do it? Don’t we want them to experience their own behavior? Surely, we wouldn’t treat someone poorly with the intention of being known for that behavior ourselves. We do it so they can get a taste of their own medicine. There’s just one little problem. Proverbs 24: 29 provides instructions that are very clear about these situations: “Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.” When we don’t like how someone else is behaving toward us, mistreating them in return is not the answer. Our behavior will never be a reflection of them, it will only be a reflection of us, of the person we are choosing to be in that moment, and ultimately of our Savior. Christian, we don’t represent only ourselves, we also represent our Savior. Every interaction with others is an opportunity to spread the love of Christ. Today, let’s choose to treat others as Christ would, regardless of how they act or treat us, because our behavior is a reflection of ourselves and our Savior.
