Repairing Bad Feelings

Jacob wanted to repair any bad feelings with his brother for tricking their father and receiving his blessing. The key lessons learned and written about in the post Humility and Kindness to Resolve Conflict is that words are important.

Jacob communicated his desire to meet with Esau. The words he used were kind and respectful. What we make happen for others will be given back to us so when we give a smile, a smile will be given back. When we act kind, we receive kindness from others. As brought out in this video, the words we use are so important: Words – Hawk Nelson.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4:32

Index of devotionals

Examples of Integrity

Over the last few weeks, I have been thinking about the character trait integrity. Like my Pastor has talked about before in his sermons, we should be honest with ourselves. Having the attitude of wanting to know where we fall short and what we need to do.

There are many examples of this character trait called integrity throughout the Bible. I thought about what happens when there is a lack of this trait as in Genesis 27:1-45 when Rebekah convinced her favorite son to trick his father and receive his blessing instead of Esau. This set off all kinds of family turmoil.

Then I thought about the example of David’s men in 2 Samuel 18:9-12 who honored David’s wishes. They didn’t kill Absalom even though he was fighting in the enemy’s army and there was a big reward to kill him.

I then thought about examples of people in more current times who have demonstrated integrity and about how a society could build up this quality for future generations. To read these thoughts, take a look at the post titled Ideas for Building a Society with More Integrity.