What Do You Expect?
I recently saw a great quote on social media from The Water Giver:
“Parenthood is about raising and celebrating the child you have, not the child you thought you’d have. It’s about understanding your child is exactly the person they are supposed to be. And if you’re lucky, they might be the teacher who turns you into the person you’re supposed to be.”
We can’t help it but we put our expectations on other people. Even on our children. We often expect them to act like the adults we want to be when they are still children exploring who they are.
But our expectations don’t just stop at our children. We place expectations on our partner, our siblings, our parents, our colleagues, our neighbours… We hope and expect people to live up to how we think they should perform.
This only leads to disappointment. People shouldn’t be looking to us to set the standard of living. We should be looking to Christ who strived to live in such a way that we could all learn how to live and love better.
Jesus is the ultimate example. He even led the way when it came to interacting with children.
It’s time to stop placing unrealistic expectations on others. Instead we must lead with love and grace.
Lord, often I place expectations on others unfairly. May I be mindful of my own insecurities and strive to treat others as I would like to be treated. Amen.
Who are you placing expectations upon?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.