Driving Sin

I am a sinful driver. One of the side effects of being self-employed is that I now spend more time in a car. I like driving. I like the time to myself that it gives me as I think on life, pray, sing, listen to books on tape, or practice what I am going to say. God has used this time to point out some sins that I need to work on. One sin caught me off guard.

Integrity is firm adherence to a moral code or a state of being undivided. I have heard it explained that integrity is acting the same way in a group of people that you would in a room by yourself. There are not many people in this world who have this value. For me, as you can see from yesterday's post, I have been thinking quite a bit on what it looks like to love enemies (and friends). I have also been thinking about the quality of humility. One day as I was thinking on these things, I noticed that my driving was sinful because it was not exhibiting love or humility. I am a selfish driver.

I noticed this when someone else was a selfish driver. It is often so easy to point out the sins in others, but we often can recognize our own sin by seeing the sins of others. Someone cut me off. I was delayed probably less than two seconds as I had to slow down then pass the driver that decided that he should pull out in front of me. I was annoyed. The thought that popped into my head is "What makes him think that his time is more important than mine?" The wheels in my head started turning. I often do just that. I pull out in front of someone because I am valuing my time more than their time. I am showing a lack of respect for the person I am pulling out in front of or cutting off or running through a yellow/red light. If I want to be a person of integrity that values loving people and humility, I am going to have to start in my driving. There is no recognition for being a respectful driver. The other driver is not going to know that I am making a conscience decision to be respectful of his/her time. The other driver is not going to realize that I am valuing their time more than mine. I have decided that this is a good test of integrity for me. Plus, I fail at this test of integrity each and every time I am on the road. Old habits are hard to break. I am constantly having to pray that God will make me more respectful of other drivers by bringing this to mind. There is nothing more humbling than realizing that you are not a person of integrity because you fail to put the morals and values you claim to practice when no one is looking.

I pledge to make a conscience effort to be a more loving driver on the road. I pledge to try not to value my time above the time of the other drivers. I know I will fail at this almost daily causing me to realize my need for a Savior. I confess that for years I did not realize how sinful my driving was. It scares me to think that there are other areas of my life as simple as driving where I am unconscious of the sin. Because of this I am more thankful of God's grace and conviction as the little sins come to light to be dealt with.