Missing Manners

     Someone does something nice for you so you say, “Thank you.”  And what response do you get?  “No problem.”  In other words, “I did it and it’s no big deal.  You don’t owe me.”

     What happened to a polite, “You’re welcome”?  Apparently the same thing that happened to “Please”!

     Next time you’re in a fast food restaurant, listen to what customers say as they place an order:  “I need a number three combo with a diet soda.  Gimmee a large.”

     Well hold it right there for just a minute!  What happened to our manners?  They’re missing.

     My mother taught me to say, “May I please have a number three combo?”  And to say, “You’re welcome” after someone says “Thank You.” Didn’t yours?

     Here’s the problem:  We know what to say – we just don’t want to say it.

     I called a manager aside once and asked if he knew the proper response to “Thank you.”  He replied, “You’re welcome.”  So I asked why his employees didn’t say it.  He didn’t know.

     It seems many have a problem with graciousness and gratitude.  Impatience and rudeness rule the day.  Maybe it’s because others are nowhere near as important as we are in our own eyes.

     Many suffer from the WIFM syndrome – “What’s In It For Me?”  If the answer is “Nothing,” they don’t waste their time.  And for many, manners seem like a waste of time.

     Sociologists don’t have an answer for this problem.  At least none that I’ve seen.  And the reason is (if we do what comes naturally) we’re totally and completely self-centered.

     Some will say, “Others don’t deserve to be treated nice.  They’re morons.”

     Well there’s an attitude that will make you a lot of friends…or not!

     Just suppose there was someone graciously willing to give us far more than we deserve.  Willing to overlook our snooty self-centered attitudes, forgive our angry outbursts and stick with us no matter what.  Sort of an FBF – a Forever Best Friend.

     That could be life changing, wouldn’t it?  And that’s exactly what God does for us in Jesus Christ.  Jesus left his Heaven to come to our earth to rescue us from ourselves. To give us what we don’t deserve – and that’s the essence of grace.

     Blindly following our self-destructive instincts, we would never and could never change.

     Justice demands consequences for our self-centered, self-serving ways.  Condemned by our own actions and failures, our future was bleak.  We need a full pardon!  And when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, taking our punishment on himself, pardon became possible.

     That possibility becomes a reality when we take God at his word and put our trust in Christ to pardon us from our ‘just desserts.’  It gives us a whole new way of living!

     Once you receive grace, it’s much easier to be gracious.  After you’ve been forgiven, it’s much easier to forgive others. When you’ve been served and loved, it’s much easier to serve and love others.  Gratitude has that effect.

     So the next time you wonder what happened to people’s missing manners, remember this:  manners and politeness grow out of our hearts.  What we say to others reflects our true nature.

     Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll adds, “The tongue is only a bucket which goes down into the well of the heart, dips out what is there and pours it forth upon the world.”

     The only way to see people change for good is to change the heart.  God knows that and he offers a new heart to us through faith in Christ.

     Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!