The story I’m about to tell is almost 30 years old, but I remember the situation as if it happened yesterday.
My wife and I had just returned from our honeymoon and I moved into the apartment with her she had lived in for a couple years already. It had been her place – now it was becoming our place.
One day I was adding some of my kitchen things into the cabinets. I opened a door to put a spice where I thought it should go, but instantly saw used a method of spice placement different from mine. I distinctly remember thinking, “I could either move things around to my liking or just go with the system she has in place.”
I had a decision to make and I chose to put my spice in line with hers. The adjustment to my wife’s cabinet organization did not make me love her any more or any less. It was her love for me and my love for her that made me want to adapt.
I’ve recalled that scenario many times over the years and God has used it to speak to me about so many things beyond kitchen arrangements. Many times the way I see things or the way I want to do something is not what God has in mind. At that point I have a decision to make – I can do it my way or His way. Because of His love for me and my love for Him I am compelled to adjust my thinking to be in line with Him.
In the process of becoming more like Him, we find the spice of life:
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2
