The cancerous attitude of spite …

I had to laugh out loud when I read this little story …

A faithful old employee asked for a day off. The request was granted, with an inquiry as to what he intended to do on his holiday.

“I think,” came the cautious answer, “I shall go to my wife’s funeral. She died the other day.”

A few weeks later, the request for a day off was repeated.

“And what are you going to do this time?” the employer asked.

“I think, maybe, I’ll get married.”

“What! So soon after burying your wife?”

The faithful old employee smiled tolerantly, as he answered, “Oh well, I was never one to hold spite.”

Well, the old fellow had one idea right: it’s unwise to hold to spite. A spiteful attitude certainly is not a godly one, and yet I’ve noticed it’s all too commonly expressed among professing Christians. We seem to delight in people getting their comeuppance, and even being the source for it, over the littlest issues like parking spaces. In a story in the Raleigh News and Observer, M. Raphael asks …

Have you ever felt that a driver was really slow in pulling out of a parking space for which you were waiting? It turns out your imagination may not be playing tricks on you. A recent study of 400 drivers in a shopping mall found that drivers took longer to pull out of a space if someone was waiting than if nobody was waiting there to claim the space. On average, if nobody was waiting for the space, drivers took 32.2 seconds to pull out of a spot after opening a car door. If someone was waiting, drivers took about 39 seconds. And woe to the person who honks to hurry a driver: drivers took 43 seconds to pull out of a space when the waiting driver honked!

A spiteful attitude or action might feel stimulating for a moment, but it is not an attitude to be tolerated or expressed by a disciple of Jesus. The Apostle Paul provides us with instruction that steers us in a direction very opposite of anything like spite:

“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you,” Ephesians 4:30-32.

Paul’s words are an efficient means of saying “don’t hold to spite!”

Are you a spiteful person, bringing sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live? Or have you gotten rid of such ungodly behavior?

Scotty