Be Easy to Get Along With

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

–HENRY FORD

Be of the same [agreeable] mind one with another; live in peace, and [then] the God of love [Who is the Source of affection, goodwill, love, and benevolence toward men] and the Author and Promoter of peace will be with you.

—2 Corinthians 13:11, emphasis added

Most of us probably wish people, in general, were easier to get along with, but have we considered how we ourselves score in that area? For example, how do you respond when you don’t get your way? Do you get your feelings hurt easily? Are you insecure and need a lot of attention to feel good about yourself? How do you handle correction? Are you adaptable? Do you have very specific ways you want things done, and if they are not done that way, do you let everyone know you are not happy? There was a time in my life when my answer to all of those questions would have been embarrassing.

I wanted everyone else to change so I could be happy, but God showed me in many instances, I was the problem. The simple truth was that I was hard to please and easy to offend. I wanted my way and did not act very nice when I didn’t get it. Of course, my attitude complicated my life because I spent a lot of time being upset. It is impossible to enjoy a simple life unless you’re easy to get along with.

It was really difficult for me to admit in the beginning that I was hard to get along with, but once I did, it was the beginning of a whole new world for me. I quickly found it really was easier to adapt sometimes than to demand my own way and go through all the arguments to get it. I found if people did their best, I could compliment them instead of finding the one thing they did not do according to my specifications and making sure I corrected them about it. I learned that many things could just be let go, and it really would not make any difference in the overall outcome. With each of those petty things I was able to give up, my life was made one step simpler.

I am certainly not assuming all my readers are hard to get along with, but perhaps a few are. If you happen to be one of them, then I know how you feel, but I can assure you God will help you change if you are willing. You should start by admitting the truth, perhaps of all the ways you have been hard to get along with. Remember, only the truth will make you free (see John 8:32).