Generous in My Judgment of Others

Finding a word for the year has been a pattern that I've had for more than a decade, thanks to a sermon my husband preached years ago. I knew where I wanted to go with my word for the year, but I couldn't find that one word that summed up what I wanted to be a growth point in my life in 2013.


As many of you know, I've been taking classes toward my ordination. One of my favorite professors is Dr. Phil Bence. He makes me think. Really think. He stretches the theological side of my mind to no end. But, I always finish his classes and assignments with a better understanding of why I believe what I believe. And, I walk away with a heart stretched in grace.

Dr. Phil, as I like to call him, loves book. He collects theological books that he finds in used bookstores. So, last September he brought a couple books with him to give away in class.  I was one of the lucky students who received one.


It was in this little book (copyright 1949), A Diary of Private Prayer, by John Bailie, that I found not my word for the year, but a phrase for the year. As soon as I read it, I knew.

Omnipresent One, beneath whose all-seeing eye our mortal lives are passed, grant that in all my dealings and purposes to-day I may behave with true courtesy and honour. Let me be just and true in all my dealings. Let no mean or low thought have a moment's place in my mind. Let my motives be transparent to all. Let my word be my bond. Let me take no unchivalrous advantage of anybody. Let me be generous in my judgment of others. Let me be disinterested in my opinions. Let me be loyal to my friends and magnanimous to my opponents. Let me face adversity with courage. Let me not ask or expect too much for myself.

It popped off the page like it had been put in bold type. This was it. This would be my phrase for the year. You know how we often know our top three strengths or our top three spiritual gifts. Well, someone once told me that we usually have three weaknesses or temptations that we gravitate to. It's good to be aware of these just as much as the positive ones. Maybe even more so, because it's the weaknesses that can sap the energy out of strengths and steal away the beauty of the gifts that God has planted in us.

The late Stephen Covey wrote of an experience in his first book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He tells the story about a guy and his unruly kids on the subway. The father just sat there not doing anything to control them. A bit irritated, Stephen asked the father if he could be of help in settling the kids. The father apologized explaining that he had just come from the hospital where he had found out his wife had just died. He was sitting quietly in his deep grief trying to figure out how to tell them that their mother was gone. I have never forgotten this story. We never know what someone has gone through or the context from which someone is responding.

To see others through eyes of love, to show mercy and compassion, to have a heart stretched in grace—is to have the heart of Jesus. May my heart become more like His in 2013. Let me be generous in my judgment of others.