After my son Britton got through swimming, my wife wanted to put some alcohol in his ears.  His response, “Mom, I don’t need that!  I’ve never gotten an ear infection before… I WILL BE FINE!”  Now he has been battling an ear infection for 10 days.  Today he told me (After having severe ear pain for a while), “I’ll tell you what… from now on I will put alcohol drops in my ear after swimming!”  He learned the hard way…

When I was 18, I thought I knew it all… but when I turned 28 I realized at 18 I was ignorant, but THEN I knew better.  When I turned 38 I realized I didn’t know as much at 28 as I thought… I was still lacking.  But THEN I knew better.  Now that I am 48 I realize I was not all that smart at 38.  You know what means?  I will never have life figured out!  The best I can hope for is that my percentage is improving as I get older.  Ouch!

There is one way we learn.  By experience.  We don’t learn the social life lessons from reading books (Except The Bible), by people telling us things, we usually don’t learn by observation either.  Even though we ought to learn from books, other’s wisdom & advice, and observation… we don’t.  Bottom line… the best and most lasting teacher is experience.  Just ask my son…

   Aside: Pictures Versus Movies.  Changing the direction a little, I wonder if you’re thankful you don’t have the same haircut and wardrobe as in 1988?  If we are still wearing the same thing from the 80s and are the same person now as then, we are in sad shape.  We want people relate to us based on who we are NOW, not who we WERE 15 or 20 years ago.  Hopefully by God’s grace we have matured, learned lessons, and changed so that we conduct ourselves in a more Godly and Christlike manner. 

   I had a professor in seminary who said we should related to people based on movies versus pictures.  His point is that a snapshot from the past is static and not a true representation of who the person is today.  Whereas a movie presents the life transitions from a point in time as they grow, learn, and mature.  We know much more about a person at the end of a movie than from just looking at a snapshot that is decades old.  Usually, from experience, they (And we) have learned and changed.

Could I suggest that when we encounter people with whom we may have had difficulties with in the past that we don’t relate to them based on a snapshot from years or decades ago?  As we have changed and matured, they have too.  As we want people to relate to us based on who we ARE rather than who we WERE… so too we give them the same courtsey.  What does The Golden Rule teach us?  Hmmm…

My guess is that there are people in our past… sometimes in our recent past… who have learned lessons that have mellowed and changed them.  There may have had a burning bush experience like Moses did… and they have changed dramatically.  Then take into consideration that we are to be forgiving.  We are not to hold people’s past against them (1 Cor 13:5b), “Love keeps no record of wrongs…”  With just those things in mind, we are to love people as God would have us to.

We all learn the hard way… by experience.  Life experiences change us as they do others.  If we want others to refrain from judging us by a snapshot from our past, we should refrain from looking at our snapshot of others.  Take people at face value until they prove otherwise.  Love them.  Encourage them.  Forgive them.  Build them up.  This makes God smile!