Letting It Go

To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 1 Corinthians 6:7

In trying to be healthy, I occasionally exercise too much and eat too little. Whenever I do so, I enter a state of heightened irritability of which I remain unaware at first. It’s apparently obvious to everyone around me though. In this state, little things irritate me, and I simply cannot let them go. So, though I probably shouldn’t, I attempt to address those frustrations. I try to do it nicely, but in this mindset, it’s impossible. My wife, my kids, and the nurses at work can all see it. They try to tell me, but when I’m in this condition, it’s really difficult to accept that I’m being difficult and that I just need to let some things go.

Looking back after I’ve returned to my senses, I can always later see that the right thing would have been to not address the conflict at all. I should have just let it go. There was no right way to correct the conflict because there was nothing that needed correcting in the first place. I was just frustrated because the world didn’t meet my expectations and, in my calorie-deficient crabbiness, I couldn’t surrender my need to be right.

Though it didn’t have anything to do with exercise or eating right, this seems to be somewhat like the situation Paul encountered in the Corinthian Church. In today’s passage, Paul scolded the Corinthians for allowing their internal conflict to spill outside of the church. He said it would be better if they settled their own conflict. Then, however, he lamented the fact that they had conflict in the first place. He said it would be a far more mature thing if they just let go of their pride and selfishness. It would have been much healthier for the body of Christ if they simply surrendered their insufferable self-interest and need to be right.

This is difficult for us. When the world doesn’t go our way and when we’re angered by perceived unfairness, it’s hard to let go. To be sure, there are times when we must stand up for what we believe. Often though, it’s simply our pride and petulance that drags us into conflict. In those times, the only proper solution to the conflict is for us to grow up and let it go.