RELATIONSHIPS November 17, 2008 Issue

PUSHING PRIDE ASIDE

DANIEL OTIENO OKELLO

I'VE LEARNED that when I'm involved in a disagreement, and I think I'm the one who is right, I must pray to be humble and obedient to the Scriptures—to honor God by loving my neighbor better. In this way, I'm heeding something Jesus mentioned in a parable, "For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 18:14).

One way I began to practice this is through studying the Christian Science Bible Lesson each morning and really "living it" throughout the day. For a while, I'd been counting on the Sunday service as my time to hear the Bible Lesson for the week. But after I recommitted myself to spending time with the Lesson, God guided me to a solution to a problem I'd been dealing with for months.

I was in the midst of longstanding disagreement with an official from the local government. This official, who was in charge of issuing business permits, had given me an invoice for my business school which I thought was unfair. He'd ranked my small school in the same category with private universities, causing the annual fee I owed the town to be equivalent to what I paid for a whole month's rent for my business. Although I could manage to afford the payment, I asked him to reconsider his stance. He refused. So I relented and agreed to pay the fee in installments.