Yield
Learning to drive is an exhilarating time in life, unless you are the parent teaching the teenager how to drive. Trying to instruct a teenager is a hard enough task in and of itself, instructing a teenager who is behind the wheel of a car and does not fully understand the traffic laws can be next to impossible. But the key to teaching a teenager how to drive is to be patient with him (trust me I know, I was a teenager not to long ago). Your demeanor will guide his demeanor as he tries to navigate through traffic.
I remember my dad teaching me to drive. It was my first time getting on the interstate. I was merging onto the ramp that led to the interstate. The yield sign that was directed at me didn’t make any sense so I completely ignored it and merged recklessly into the lane beside me. The next second was chaotic as my dad took the wheel and forced me back into my lane. I freaked out a bit as I was trying to understand what was happening. He gently but sternly told me about yield signs and the importance of them. But the thing that spoke the loudest was his cool manner. He didn’t yell at me for not knowing what yield meant, and he didn’t punish me for almost wrecking into another car. He simply instructed me and we carried on our way (breathing a little heavier than normal).
Scripture tells us to bear patiently with the failings of the weak. It can touch a sensitive nerve when those failings have disastrous results in your life, like wrecking the car, or almost wrecking a relationship. But as we live life with each other, we should consider that we are all at different places in our faith with the Lord. Some may be at a very young age learning “how to drive” others may have been taught false doctrine along the way and are simply confused, but we all are under the compulsion of Jesus’ love to bear with one another patiently.