Are you ever disappointed by someone’s response to one of your actions? Are they ever disappointed by your actions?

“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked [Cain]. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it.”

Genesis 4:6-7 (NLT)

In pondering my own responses to certain people and their actions, I have to wonder how those situations could have had different results if only I’d responded in a different manner. Often times our first response isn’t the correct one. Like Cain, we get upset as a spoiled child might. Sin waits to destroy us.

But also like Cain, God is waiting to accept us if we come with the correct response. Every situation has the potential for multiple outcomes. Most often, the outcome has a direct relationship with our response to it.

The next time your first inclination is to respond by lashing out, pause. Subdue the incorrect response and ask God to guide you in the correct one.

Daily Bible reading: Genesis 3-5, Matthew 2