Grandma Hertzler's Way of Life

Michael recently visited his friends and family in Pennsylvania.
He stayed at his Grandpa Hertzler's and slept in his Uncle Johnny's room.
On the wall of that room is a little plaque which has these words:

"There's so much bad in the best of us
And so much good in the worst of us
That it hardly behooves any of us
to talk about the rest of us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, how I want my children to be discerning.
I don't want them to swallow everything they hear
as if it were the truth.
I want them to think objectively and see if their
negative reaction to what they hear
is due to the message itself
or due to the manner
or method
in which the message was presented.

There can be truth in a message
but the method of its presentation
makes one want to run away.
But a dollar bill,
all crinkled and dirty,
is still worth 100 cents,
even though it has an offensive appearance.

How do we teach ourselves and our
children to respond to the truth in a message
without reacting negatively to the manner
in which it is presented?

How do we deal with the mixture of humanity
and godliness in every arena of our lives?

I think it has something to do with the words
on the plaque on the Hertzler wall.
We must understand our own humanity
so we have grace for another's.

We must pray and say,
"Lord, I receive Your truth.
I reject the lies and methods of the enemy,
but I give grace to this sweetest frame."

And we love.
We love and believe the best.

And we stay awake and pray.

And we read the Book of Truth
so we can always find the value
in every Word of God.