“We don’t have to agree on anything to be kind to one another.” (Toby Mac)

One day while I was a high school student, a bunch of us were playing pickup basketball at a nearby gym. I was playing well and doing my fair share of trash talking that day. Finally, my friend had enough of this as some of my verbal barrage was directed at him.

He told us that he didn’t want to play any more and that we all had to leave. You see, he was the one that had the key to the gym and had opened it up for us to play. He literally took his ball and went home. He didn’t have very thick skin and didn’t react to the situation very well. I, on the other hand, was not very respectful as I acted like a punk.

Most of the time, showing respect to people (even those that you don’t think deserve it) is more a reflection of your  character  than it is a reflection of theirs.

[Read more…]