Hook, Line, & Sinker

“Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is very dangerous.”
- P.G. Wodehouse

When I was younger, I didn’t like the term “redhead.” To my very opinionated, eight-year old mind, my hair was not red, and it most definitely was not orange. Eventually I settled on the term “rusty copper” to describe my locks. (Never mind that when copper rusts, it turns a gross, mossy, green color.) Rusty copper just sounded quaint and dignified. Eventually I learned to not mind the good natured jokes about my hair color; I even gave up calling it rusty copper when I saw an actual rusted-over copper statue in DC.

I’m not sure why everyone seems to have an array of impressive one-liners they like to pull out every time a redhead appears, but they do. My personal favorite is, “Your hair is really red! You must have quite the temper!”

It’s at these times that I take a deep breath, swallow back my supposedly fiery temper, force a laugh, and say, “Ha! Never heard that one before!”

There are things in all of our lives that act like built-in excuses. It would be easy to allow my temper to flare often because “I’m a redhead.” Or I could get away with being shy because “I was homeschooled.” Some build walls and refuse to connect with others because they have “trust issues.” Others shrug and say it’s alright for them to be blunt and offensive because it’s just the “way they are.” And still others think they can be obnoxious because it’s the “way they were raised.” I found that many times we didn’t come up with these excuses on our own, usually comments from family, friends, or even strangers handed us these excuses on a silver platter. It’s so easy to swallow these excuses hook, line, and sinker! Before long, it becomes acceptable–even expected–for us to indulge bad (and sometimes sinful) actions.

Somewhere along the way I determined I was never going to use my hair color as an excuse to not control my temper; call it redheaded stubbornness if you will. (See how easy it is to pull these out?) I love what Paul wrote to Timothy. In Heather’s Very English translation, he said, “Don’t allow anyone to despise and look down on you because you’re young. Instead, be an example to every believer in how you talk, act, and love. Also in your attitude, faith, and purity.”

Paul was challenging Timothy not to resort to lazy or irresponsible behavior just because everyone expected it of him.

Well Paul, challenge accepted.