Are you a Bulldozer or a Broom?

Good morning friends!

Today I have a very important question to ask you. Are you a bulldozer or a broom?

Now before you start looking at me strange and saying things like, "Did you sleep well last night, Bonnie?" and "Are you sure you're feeling quite alright?", bear with me.

Don't worry, I'm not going bonkers. It's a perfectly legitimate question for me to ask and I hope you'll be able to answer it for yourself by the time you've read this post! :)

So I was thinking the other day about the whole concept of gentleness. And respect. And how easy it is to hurt other's feelings, whether it's with or without knowing it.

And it came to me that there are two different approaches to how we treat others in life.

There's the rough approach. It's the I'm-more-important-than-everyone-else approach. The proud approach. The run-everyone-else-over-and-stand-on-them-to-get-to-the-top approach.
I'm calling this the bulldozer approach.

Then we have the gentler, humbler, compassionate approach. It's the everyone-else-is-more-important-than-me approach. The servant hearted approach where we humbly seek to smooth out situations and bless others.
I'm calling this the broom approach.

Which approach do you use?

Are you a bulldozer or a broom?

James 1:19
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry...

The broom always has a listening ear.

It doesn't get angry in a hurry because it knows that an angry person will say something they regret later. The broom respects others and knows that even if they have a different opinion, the other person might be right, and so they should listen carefully because they might learn something.

Colossians 3:12-14
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

It doesn't seek the best for itself. Rather, it seeks to serve and bless and encourage. It is kind, humble, meek, patient and loving. 

It doesn't bulldoze over everyone else in an effort to get on with its own life, who cares about everyone else!

Phillipians 2:4
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

The broom doesn't hurt other's feelings because it always puts other's interests above it's own. Others are always more important.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 

The broom does its best to love others just as Christ loves it. 

It doesn't bulldoze others down to try and get to the top. Instead it patiently builds others up, gently sweeping and encouraging them.

You may be asking, "What's the reason behind being a broom? Because surely there are advantages to being a bulldozer? I like the feeling of being big, strong, and important."

That's a fair enough question. But tell me. Do you want to look back at the end of your life and see a trail of squished and mangled people that you've bulldozed over to get where you are?

Or do you want to look back at the end of your life and see a trail of people who have been swept clean and built up by your loving example?



Are you a bulldozer or a broom?
I can't answer that question for you. Only you can.