Finely Tuned

With the holiday season quickly approaching, I recently decided to pick up a few extra hours at a retail store in the local mall. A little bit of extra cash and an employee discount for the season are perks that are always hard for this die-hard shopper to pass up! I made my rounds to the various stores of interest, picked up employment applications, and headed home with my stack of paper opportunities. But when I sat down and began to fill out the applications, I found myself stumbling with my handwriting… I ended up scratching through and re-writing what seemed like every other word. By the time I finished the first application, it looked like a young child’s piece of artwork… hardly the employment application of a 27 year-old professional.

I realized that, with the exception of writing checks or an occasional note, all of my writing and correspondence is done on a computer. The keyboard is my pen and the screen is my paper. My handwriting skills are rarely used and, therefore, are terribly out of tune. (Ms. Smith, my third grade English teacher, would be so ashamed!)

As I began on the second application, I tried to pay more attention to my handwriting, but also began to think about how this concept was true in many aspects. I strive for Godly discipline in all areas of my life and, in the areas where I fall short, I find myself out of tune. Often I find my heart hard and my spirit weak.

I am truly blessed to have people in my life who give freely and selflessly, regardless of my shortcomings. My friends are constantly extending to me more grace than I deserve. For as long as I can remember, my family has been faithful to shower me with never-ending understanding… no matter how crazy my ideas may be.

And above all else, my Savior extends healing mercy to my broken life.

When I lack discipline, it is easy for me to receive each of these things… but it’s extremely difficult for me to give them.

When I am not actively exercising grace in each of my relationships, I stumble when I encounter a situation that calls for me to extend it. If I am not practicing understanding, it is difficult for me not to pass judgment.

If I am not offering mercy to the hurting, I am missing an opportunity to share the Lord’s healing that I’ve experienced in my own life.

I quickly find that without discipline, these elements of my life get out of tune easily. Just like my handwriting skills that I hadn’t practiced for years, if I don’t practice these spiritual disciplines in my life, I stumble when it’s time for me to step up to the plate.

As believers, we possess the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Each of those things already exists in our lives! The responsibility lies in our hands: we must strive to actively exercise each of those spiritual disciplines in of our relationships.

With each application that I finished, my handwriting improved drastically. My deliberate effort revived what seemed to be a long-forgotten skill. In all reality, I’d never forgotten how to write. I’d just been out of practice. And by the time I finished all the applications, I was writing like a regular calligraphy pro!