Am I willing to give up my rights to be right?

Standing up for myself or laying myself down for others.

One sounds rewarding, one sounds, well, hard.

And here’s the rub: I can't do them both, at least not at the same time.

I must make a decision, right then and there, in that split second of a confrontation and conflict.

Rights or love?

Law or grace?

Self or others?

But I'm right!!!

Rarely am I right, and this time, I am! 

I know my heart on this dispute or disagreement. And yes, I'm right!

"Let it go," I hear in a still, small voice. "Let love win out over your right to claim your rights."

The confrontation ended. Throughout it, I displayed nothing but grace, kindness and sincerity.

Honestly.

So how, now, am I convinced that I totally whiffed on it?

For one, I stewed about it for a while. A long while.

Secondly, I did what comes so naturally to me. I shared my encounter with a few friends. At least subconsciously, I'm sure I was looking for affirmation that I was indeed right and that I had taken the higher road. I was playing it out for self and for others, over and over again.

I was lining up my defense, one by one, and building my case for rightness.

The still, small voice whispers again: "Let it go. Let go of it."

Sigh.

Yes. Let it go.

But the call is not just to let it go because it's no big deal, not worth thinking more about. Those are easy, or easier, to let go.

Instead, this time it is a plea for me to surrender what I want most out of this particular situation, and that's the assurance that I was right.

And indeed, I was right.

Now, am I willing to surrender that declaration, in the name of love?

Because if I have all the rightness in the world, but don’t have love, then I have nothing.