Bubba Watson is my favorite golfer right now. With a unique personality, he's a family man and a winner that has never had a formal golf lesson. Although Bubba has fans like me, not everyone roots for him. Known for his outbursts and how he treats his caddie, he's not regarded as the friendliest guy on tour. Last year's polls painted a bad picture of Bubba by revealing he's not even well-liked by other golfers.
This past week, 60 Minutes did an excellent feature on Bubba showing a side of him that was honest and vulnerable. He candidly shared what his caddie, Ted Scott, said to him: "He (Ted) said, 'People don’t like you and...the reason why they don’t like you, they just don’t understand you because you’re nuts.’"
That was some brutal honesty from his caddie, but Bubba went on to admit that he's had a lot of mental issues. He said, "I just am so fearful of things, which I shouldn’t be, right? Scared of heights. Scared of buildings falling on me. Scared of the dark. Scared of crowds. Those are my biggest issues…in between holes is really scary to me because there's so many people that close to you. I’m just scared of people in general."
What struck me most about his revelations is the fact that he’s been misunderstood. I’m not going to justify his temper tantrums or the struggles he has with people, but I am willing to give him grace and try to recognize that he acts the way he does because of what lies beneath the surface.
This type of thinking doesn't come easy for most of us. We tend to jump to conclusions and judge others from the outside when voicing our opinion about not liking them. The simple reality is that people are the way they are for a reason. That doesn’t mean they should stay as they are, but it also doesn’t mean we should write them off.
Proverbs 18:2 (NLT) gives great wisdom with these words: "Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions."
I believe this is valuable in many areas of life, but today let’s be challenged to do our best to understand people before giving our assessment of them. We all have our own struggles, issues, and hurts, so let’s love each other and remember that Jesus meets us in our brokenness. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You’re the only one that knows me fully and I’m thankful You still love me. Help me to keep that in mind as I interact with other people. If You know everything about them and still love them, I should be able to love them too. Help me not to jump to conclusions, judge unfairly, or treat people poorly. Allow me to show Jesus’ love and grace to those I meet. In His name, I pray, Amen.
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