We are all familiar with thermometers and thermostats. A thermometer registers the temperature around us. It reacts quickly to a cold breeze or the sun coming out. The thermostat, rather than reacting to the outside temperature and going up or down as conditions change, strives to control the environment around it. It counteracts the quick drop in temperature caused by the cold breeze by putting out some heat, or it cools down the atmosphere by a burst of arctic air when the sun beats down upon it.

We find that most people are like the thermometers while others try to be thermostats. The thermometers respond to a cold shoulder, a chilly remark or a cold reception with a plunge of their own mercury. A hot accusation or a heated remark will send thermometers skyrocketing upward. A cold rebuke can plunge those who are thermometers into the depths of despair but a warm suggestive look can cause them to soar out of control.

When we let God take control of our lives, we find that we can stop being thermometers and become thermostats. We can begin to change the climate around us rather than just registering it. When we allow God to set the dial, our environment always changes for the better. When God changes us, we act rather than react. We return a cold piercing glance with a tender look; we reply to the sharp tongue with a soft answer. An aloof stance can be melted with a loving caress and a clenched fist can be covered by a squeezed hand.

We can all learn how to become thermostats by following the example of our Lord. When he was reviled, ”he reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not,” Jesus controlled the situation rather than being controlled by it.

Jesus would have us to be thermostats rather than thermometers for he told us, ”For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.” This is a description of the thermometer, loving those that love them and hating those that hate them, reacting, not acting. Jesus continued, ”And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye, for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.” Now, here comes the thermostat part. ”But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest; for he is kind unto the unthankful, and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”

It’s easy to be a thermometer and almost everyone is. Just go up and down with the circumstances around us, like a puppet on a string being controlled by outside forces.

It is difficult, but not impossible to be a thermostat. Thermostats make a difference in the lives of those around them because they are in control rather than being controlled.

Let’s decided to be thermostats by allowing God to take control of our lives. When we decide to let God’s ways control us we will find that He will set our thermostats to do the right thing at the right time. All we need to do is, ”trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding, in all our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our paths.”