Jonah 4:1 The change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry. (NLT)
The reluctant prophet Jonah preached that Nineveh would be destroyed. But when the people repented and changed their evil ways, God had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction. Jonah lamented, “Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen.” Do you think Jonah really wanted all the people to die, or perhaps could it have been that he was going to lose face because his prediction wasn’t going to be carried out? We often talk about emotions like love, hate, anger, resentment, or jealousy. Yet embarrassment can be the source of acting out. When embarrassed, people can get defensive, blame others, lash out, or worse. The thing is, embarrassment is often the result of our own misstep. The antidote for embarrassment is humility. Humility allows us to apologize; humility puts the importance of the opinions of others into greater perspective. Let us remember Christ’s great love for us even while we were still sinners. That type of acceptance is much more important than others’ opinions of us.
Heavenly God, As we begin this week, let us keep our eyes and heart fixed upon you. Give us strength of character and the humility to withstand the embarrassing moments in life. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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