Daily Lesson for January 20, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Ephesians chapter 4 verses 25 through 27:

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

"Mind the Gap."

Anyone who has ever been to England knows what "Mind the Gap," means.  It's a warning sign on all the British train platforms reminding riders to watch out for the gap between the platform and the train. Though just a small space, it can also be a deadly one.

Minding the gap in our relationships is also important.

Relationships inevitably hurt and disappoint us. As Fred Buechner says in his novel "Godric": "What is friendship after all but the giving and receiving of wounds." But too often we allow our wounds to fester without address. The wound grows larger and larger and pretty soon a poison begins to set in. What started off as a small wound becomes a gaping one.

What is necessary to prevent this is to mind the gap.  When someone hurts or disappoints us we need to find the courage to say so quickly and lovingly.  We can be angry; that's just part of life. But what we should not do is allow our anger to fester and grow.  We need to speak it in love. As the lesson says, "Be angry; but do not sin."

So many relationship problems get out of hand because they aren't addressed early on. Over time small things become big ones. Somebody is hurt by somebody else's words or lack of attention yet says nothing; and before long a friendship is lost.  Expectations to unmet at work and down the road a performance problem becomes a personnel issue.  The sun goes down on a marriage over and over again without one spouse ever telling the other how she or he feels and "suddenly" divorce papers are filed.  

This is the way the enemy seeks to destroy families, churches, communities, and souls. He loves to do it.  But there is something we can do to stop this. It takes courage, but we can do it.  We really can, and should:

"Mind the Gap."