Showing Grace to the Annoying People

People are hard to love.

You know it’s true.

People can be annoying. They can be mean. They can be thoughtless or/and uncaring. They are so self-centered. They cut you off in rush hour traffic, or ding your car door in the Target parking lot…and don’t. leave. a note. And some people just “rub us the wrong way”.

These are the annoying, everyday interactions with people who get in the way of our good mornings setting our mood in the wrong direction.

2 Timothy 2 tells us:

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What is grace exactly, and how do we apply it in everyday?

Put simply: God’s Riches At Christ Expense = GRACE (or God giving us what we don’t deserve).

Grace synonyms: (good) manners, politeness, respect, courtesy, decency.

And, how in the heck am I supposed to show them grace when they can be, well, so annoying?

Recently, when I was talking with someone particularly hard to deal with (like fingernails-on-a-chalkboard hard) I heard a voice in my head.

It whispered, “Grace”.

Now I can’t say positively Who that voice came from, but I like to think it was more than those other darn voices in my head…

Grace.

Almost immediately my defensiveness to this person came down. I relaxed. My aggravation calmed. This person didn’t dictate my mood.

Grace.

I showed the same grace to this person as He has shown me.

When we understand God’s unconditional forgiveness for us, by giving us his Son for our sins, we in turn learn to show grace and forgive others…including those who are really annoying, or rude, or disrespectful.

Next time you are dealing with “those” people, try this little trick: Whisper “grace” in your head (not out loud because that would be weird).

Repeat it as many times as needed…’cause some people need more grace than others. 

Not that we are ever one of those people…right?

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LINKING UP AT | MyDailyWalkInHisGrace and ASoftGentleVoice. Woman Who Inspires.