This IS my happy face!

One of David’s and my favorite lines from a movie is “This is my happy face!” from Tommy Lee Jones in Man of the House.  If you’ve never seen the movie, I highly recommend it when you’re in the mood for something funny.  Tommy Lee Jones’ character is always grumpy and he ends up having to be in charge of cheerleaders.  Someone tells him to put on a happy face and his response (in a very exaggerated southern accent) is, “This is my happy face!” 

I feel like, as a Christian, I always have to have on a “happy face.”  That’s just so hard to do!  My mind is filled with clever come-backs and lists of other people’s shortcomings.  (Just in case I need to point them out one day.) Man, how un-Christian that is! Would Jesus keep a list like mine? NOPE! If I’m supposed to be living as He did ~1 John 2:6, why do I get offended by things people say? A comment was made the other day that I could have very easily snapped back with one of those clever remarks, but I bit my tongue.  I kept thinking of 1 Corinthians 10:31 ~ So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. I knew that my clever remarks would not glorify the Lord.  I also didn’t want to stand there and get “bullied.”  I felt like I needed to stick up for myself.  My first thought was to point out their flaws and “hold them accountable” (meaning, I wanted to say something ugly to show them that, yeah, I’ve got a list for you too).  Then, I remembered a Proverbs 31 Woman devotion I read this summer.  It was about choosing to NOT be offended.  God was doing everything He could to get my attention and tell me to be the bigger person.  I bit my tongue. 

I feel like Christians are always expected to have on their “happy face.”  God never promised Christianity would be easy, though. I’ve heard countless sermons on Mark 12:30-31 ~ Love our God , the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And to Love your neighbor as yourself.  Easy peasey, right? Honestly, Mark 31 is hard enough alone.  “Love your neighbor[…]as yourself.” For those of you who know me, you know I’m not much of a people person.  I rarely trust people and I always expect people to let me down.  When someone annoys or offends me, I can easily remove them from my life and not really give it a second thought.  I find it difficult to “put on my happy face” around people who annoy the dog fool out of me.  I’d much rather tell them what I really think of them, or at least give them a look that gets the point across, than to show Godly love to them. 

I choose NOT to be offended.  Well, at least I’m working on it.  It’s so much easier to find offense in something someone says or does and to just remove them from my everyday life.  God tells me to be different, though.  He wants me to show His love in every breath, every action, every thought, and every word.  After all, I’m merely a vessel to be used for His glory.  He chose me to be a vessel.  He loved me enough to give me this task.  That’s enough to give me a sincere “happy face.”

My prayer for you (and for me) is that the God’s love will be enough to give you a “happy face.”