Life is like a box of crackers …

The line from the movie “Forrest Gump” is so famous, most people know it: “My momma always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.'”

A couple of days ago, I was thinking how life is like a box of crackers.

I don’t have any idea how many boxes of crackers I’ve bought in my lifetime, but it’s never been anything of note until recently. In the last box of crackers I bought, all the crackers were crumbled and crushed within their packages. There wasn’t a single intact cracker to be found. But there was no way of telling this without opening the box since there wasn’t any damage of any kind to the exterior packaging. On the outside, it appeared to be an ordinary box containing tasty crackers. On the inside, were broken crackers, so crushed they couldn’t be used for their intended purpose.

Life is a lot like a box of crackers when it comes to people. Some appear to be fine on the outside, and some of them are fine on the inside. But a lot of them, while looking fine on the outside, are broken and crushed on the inside.

God knows the damage done to our lives. I think that’s why His Word encourages us to be gentle with one another. In Titus 3:2, the believers are to be reminded of this:

“They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.”

In Galatians 5:22-23, we see the kind of fruit the Holy Spirit wants to grow in us includes traits such as patience, kindness, goodness, and gentleness. First Corinthians 13:4 tells us love is patient and kind. And Ephesians 4:32 instructs us like this: “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

Jesus simplified things by telling us to love everyone. That’s because there are a lot of fine-looking people out there who are crushed on the inside. They need our love, our kindness and gentleness, not more damage done to their already broken lives.

Life is like a box of crackers, you never know what you will discover inside people. So approach them with the love and gentleness of Christ.

Is that how you treat others?

Scotty