You’re inconsistent.

You think and act in ways that fail to mesh with your values in principles.

Not just you, but all of us are walking and talking hypocrites.

But that’s not the whole story.

The rest of the story is that each time you catch yourself living inconsistently with your values is an opportunity.

An opportunity to:

• change,
• correct course,
• confess,
• ask forgiveness, and
• begin again.

Of course, it’s also an opportunity to:

• bow up,
• double down,
• give up,
• quit, and
• blame.

Hypocrisy isn’t the end of your story. It’s an intimate and defining part of it.

How you respond to your inconsistencies will go a long long way towards determining what happens in your life.

Choose the first set of responses rather than the second.

They are hard and uncomfortable steps to take but lead to healing, hope, and happiness in the end.

Most of all, they lead to growth and your best self.

You’re given a choice each time you’re hurt.

You could return fire and respond in kind. Or you could let it go and move on.

Be wary of the path you choose.

In selecting your response, you decide the person you’ll become.

There are few, if any, neutral decisions. Each one helps form the picture of who you are today, and who you’ll be down the road.

It may feel good to dish sarcasm, wit and venom upon your foes, but at what cost?

A victory pursued, or even attained, in the wrong way is a hollow one. In fact, it’s not a victory at all. It’s a loss. In becoming like your enemy to beat your enemy, you become the thing you hated in the first place. Becoming evil to beat evil allows evil to win.

You’re not called to take the path that feels good. You’re called to take the path of righteousness. The path that leads to kindness, gentleness, and character.

Choose the right path regardless how difficult or hard it is. Stay out of the mud.

Do it enough and you’ll become the man or woman you hoped to be. And that will make all the mud slung your way worth it, even if no one else can tell.