My record for wristband on one wrist stretched to 13 days! The B(+) exercise has made me much more aware of my negativity, especially on the road. I am on guard now when behind the wheel. While the antics of drivers still disturb me, I find two things: I intentionally try to pray for those whose driving frightens or angers me;  the ‘cool down’ period has been shorter than before the wristband exercise.

On day 13 I blew it with one sarcastically humorous comment. My brother-in-law and I were talking about someone. With no forethought I tossed a little sarcastic barb about the person into the conversation. Moments after the chuckles ceased my conscience felt a twinge of pain. The Holy Spirit prodded me to acknowledge my negativity.

Often my recipe for humor includes a heaping cup of sarcasm. Early in life I covered up a lack of self-esteem with sarcastic humor, or used it as a passive-aggressive weapon against a threat. So refined has it become that sarcastic humor is second nature. My second nature reared up a few days ago to bring awareness of a new area of negativity.

Since Saturday afternoon I have sensed the Lord telling me that this area  is the next place in my spirit we will be working. The Holy Spirit has sensitized me to my negativity behind the wheel. While I’m definitely not ‘cured’ in that area, I am better equipped and aware.

Now the Spirit and I will be doing surgery on my sense of humor to remove the cancer of sarcasm. This may be a longer procedure! Does this process come with anesthesia?

Our niece, Jordan, is a North Georgia sophomore. She has been living with us this year. Last week she offered a loophole to the wristband swap.

We sat together in the family room watching TV when a someone commented about the looks of a certain person on TV. The comment, being less than flattering, brought a question about whether or not a wristband should be moved.

We debated the facts: the comment was truthful– most would consider the person to be less than handsome; however, is a truthful comment always positive, or is it sometimes negative.

That’s when Jordan offered the loophole, “Well, if you say, ‘bless his heart’, then it’s not negative!” Apparently, Jordan learned this from her grandmother. (NOTE: Grandmother’s compassionate comment developed long before the advent of B(+) wristbands; Jordan simply applied Grandmother’s compassion to our conversation as a possible loophole.)

We laughed and for the next several days, “Bless his/her heart!” frequented our conversations– without wristband movement! It served as a ‘get out of jail free’ pass. What fun– to make almost any comment with impunity.

Our liberal use of the loophole and our mutual tolerance of otherwise negative statements notwithstanding, the conscience continued to sting with each jovial “bless his heart!”

OK, what’s the lesson for me? God grants no loopholes! Our comments, and the attitudes behind them, pass the positive test, or they are negative. No thin veneer of compassion negates the negative, making it positive. My attitude and comments either are positive or are negative.

But what about speaking the truth, we may ask? Is stating the truth, such as a person’s unattractive appearance, ever negative. EMPHATICALLY, YES! When we speak the truth for any other reason than to accomplish God’s redemptive end, the truth serves an ungodly purpose. Truthfully, the truth may serve as tool to build or weapon to destroy.

Take as example our truthful observation about the TV personality’s personal appearance. What purpose did that truthful comment serve? Was it to help the fellow along in his spiritual journey? Was it to help anyone who heard the comment to follow Christ better? Did it serve any positive spiritual end? No, no, no. So, the truth served no Godly purpose– it was negative! The comment, with or without a jovial “bless his heart!”, deserved a wristband shift.

The hard spiritual reality remains: my tongue is God’s tool now. My attitude and my tongue became God’s when I surrendered myself “lock-stock-and-barrel”. These tools have been dedicated to God’s glory, and any other use of God’s tools than for God’s purposes can hardly Godly, or be positive.

Sound hard or narrow? This spiritual reality seems that way to me, too. But, I’m always looking for a loophole, “bless my heart!!!!”

What do you think?

My wristband made it six days now on the same wrist, beating my old record by 24 hours! The new record stretched from Sunday, February 1 through Saturday, February 7. Coincidentially, I lost my voice Sunday, Feb 1 @ about 1 PM and regained a portion of it on Saturday morning, Feb 7. I moved my wristband before dinner on Saturday evening.

Can you guess my weakness? For just such a mouth as mine did God inspire James to write about the dangers of the tongue. Yet, by God’s grace and my grace-full obedience, this tongue will become tamed. I have hope!

I hope soon to eclipse my six-day record, but this time without laryngitis.