Text of the Week: Rev. Alec Shuttleworth

Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise. If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Jun 2016, 09:00 BST

(Romans 12:15-17)

It is sometimes tempting when the phone rings in the middle of your tea, and a voice with a very un-British accent but claiming to be that of a man called John Smith asks you if you have got your PPI compensation yet, or offers you a wonderful deal on double glazing, or asked you to take part in a survey; it is sometimes tempting to reply rudely and slam the phone down.

It’s the same when you are driving and someone cuts you up. The most mild mannered of us can be tempted to make gestures and hammer the horn.

It’s because these are relationships which we do not think matter. They are transitory, belonging to that instant only. How we behave has no impact on us!

But how we behave has an impact on them. “Have the same concern for everyone.” You can make all the difference in the world to someone’s day with kindness. And allowing anger to cloud your day hurts only you.

John Smith