Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ~ Mark 10:35-45
Even though I consider myself a fairly reasonable person, every now and then I get in a funk about something.
I may be feeling left out, or may be irritated. I might be cranky about something that I didn’t really want to be included in in the first place, but I’ll still get snippy about it. How childish is that?
It helps me to know that even the disciples had their moments of snarkiness (snarkyness?), fighting over things like who was going to be the most important in heaven.
It helps me see in instances like this it all boils down to is my desire to be most important, or first, in the lives of everyone I know. Which isn’t even logical, since I can’t place everyone I know first. Instead, I should be putting God first, and people next. And letting those around me do the same. If my priorities are in order, I won’t be so caught up in pouting over how other people treat me. Focusing on God is the best way to stay grounded, because knowing the King of the universe loves me enough to send His Son to die for me makes me feel like a pretty big deal. And that pretty much ends any sulking that I might have been doing.