One of my biggest problems is not when people make mistakes, that is going to happen, but it is when people will not accept that they have made one. Not sure why it bugs me so much, but it does.
As a consultant, my job is to give the best advice I can to ensure that the correct thing is done. At times I make mistakes or am just flat wrong, but one of the things I do it own it. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in a meeting and people want to blame someone or something else for their mistakes.
Then there are the people on the road who do not want to own that they made a mistake when they pulled out in front of you and made you slam your breaks on and you honk your horn, or they ran a red light and you let them know by using the horn, or they take up two parking spaces near the store entrance and you let them know and they get mad at you for pointing it out. The horn is the only way to let a person know on the road that they have done something wrong.
So why don’t they want to own their mistakes, well part of it has to do with their parents I am sure, but I would suspect that more than likely it has to do with the devil whispering in their ears that the other person was wrong.
When I was in Massachusetts, I was in Walmart one day. The lady let me go and sort of pulled over so I could get by, but it was difficult. I did everything in my power to avoid hitting her and thought I had done so. When I was about 15 to 20 feet from her, she said loudly in a nasty voice that the proper thing to do was to say excuse me. I turned around and asked if she was talking to me and she indicated she was. I said what and then she repeated herself in a nastier voice. Well my response probably shocked her, but I said well then how about this for you, FU. I should have just said sorry, but I am sure that the Devil was whispering in my ear at that exact moment. I also thought there were a million ways she could have handled it differently such as sir excuse me, did you know you just pushed us as you went by. I know my reply would have been no and I would have apologized.
There is a right way to handle encounters and it should be done in a loving way. People do not need to be nasty when they encounter someone. I know I am just as guilty of it as anyone else and I need to change.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 New International Version (NIV)
24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
I pray if you are the type of person that likes to confront people in a quarrelsome or unkind way that you will read and understand the bible verse above. Then pray to God to change you.