He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
When Jesus’ disciples disappointed Him, He was not devastated, because He already knew and fully understood human nature, as today’s scripture teaches us. A major reason people get upset and disappointed in relationships is that they have unrealistic expectations of others. We should expect the best from people, but at the same time we should remember that they are human beings with imperfections, just as we are.
People tend to want perfection in others. They want the perfect spouse, perfect friend, perfect family, perfect neighbors, perfect coworkers, perfect pastor, and so on. But perfect people don’t exist. Only Jesus is perfect. As long as we live in earthly bodies, we will manifest imperfection. God knows this, so His Word teaches us how to handle people who irritate or disappoint us. Among other things, we are to be loving (John 13:34), forgiving (Luke 17:1–4), and kind (Ephesians 4:32), and we should bear patiently with people (Colossians 3:13).
People are not perfect and expecting them to be without fault only leads to frustration. Instead, we need to have realistic expectations of others and set our minds to be patient and merciful toward them with God’s help, as we would want them to be toward us.
It is important to expect good things to happen in your life while also knowing that no person and no situation is perfect. When we find ourselves growing frustrated with people, we should realize that our attitude in these trying situations greatly hinders our enjoyment of life. We can be realistic and still have a positive attitude as we deal with our own imperfections and those of the people around us.
Prayer of the Day: Holy Spirit, help me not to set unrealistic expectations only to be disappointed. Help me to be realistic while also staying positive about myself and those around me.
