Along with faith it is very important to develop a philosophy of understanding toward people who may seem to have a grudging heart towards us. Much of the problem stems from an unwillingness or inability to consider why that person is acting in such a manner.

Our attitude toward someone who offends us determines how we react to what he does against us. We never even think about being thoughtful and reasonable when we are under physical or verbal attack. Anger takes control, and we strike out blindly in self-protection.

If we were capable of controlling those oversensitive feelings it would give us time to ask and answer a few questions about the other person’s motives. Even a few seconds of rational thinking could suggest the possibility that the person might be operating under false information and be very sincere in what he is doing. This could possibly change our own reactions toward him.

An old Greek philosopher, named Philip was walking along the street with a friend one day. It just so happened that an enemy of Philip was watching him approach from a window up above. As the two passed by he threw a bucket of water onto the wise old man. Without the slightest reaction, Philip continued his conversation as though nothing at all had happened. His friend stopped and offered to help him find and punish the man who had treated him so rudely, Philip quietly replied that no one had done him any wrong. The friend said to him in a concerned tone, “But the man threw water all over you. You are soaking wet.”

“No,” replied the old wise philosopher, “you are mistaken. He did not throw any water on me. He threw it on the man he thought I was.”

What an attitude! What a difference it would make if more people had the attitude and regard for the feelings of others.  Most of the problems and disputes could be settled in a moment if everyone had the philosophy of Philip.

This makes me think of Jesus and how he felt towards others, and how He treated them. We can’t measure what is right and wrong by our feelings or by what the majority is doing. Our guide must be the Word of God. Like Paul we must say, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live, I live by the faith of Him who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).