“CUSTOMERS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT!”

Dearly Beloved,
“CUSTOMERS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT!”
“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all...” (2 Timothy 2:24 NKJV).
Sequel to my wife’s abrupt disengagement from service in her workplace, we started a frozen foods business in a small shop in the front of our home. Any time she is busy in the kitchen or not at home, and I am less busy at home, I become the sales man in the shop. I have had a lot of experiences from this. There is this axiom that says, “Customers are always right!” The axiom is not true all the time, but I have learnt to apply it when I am on duty in our shop. There was a particular case when a woman came and asked for a kind of fish. There were different prices for the smaller and bigger sizes of the kind of fish she wanted. I made this known to her. She even knew before I told her, but she was undecided as to which one to buy. Probably she wanted to cheat me. She later decided to buy a kilo of chicken instead. Even at that, she was still trying to be dubious with me. I was furious within me, but I remembered that axiom, “Customers are always right!” She finally bought the kilo of chicken, but to my surprise, she wanted to buy it at a lower price to the normal price of a kilo. I politely reminded her about the normal price of a kilo of chicken, and she went away with her bought item.
The lesson from this incident and the axiom is that one has to be patient and gentle in dealing with other people. It is evident that people will offend and provoke one to the extent that one may overreact, but one must always remember the teachings of the Bible that we should be “...as gentle as doves” (Matthew 10:16 TEV). Consider these verses also:
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2 NIV).
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18 NIV).
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14-15 NIV).
No matter who you are dealing with, you have to deal with them gently, patiently, peacefully and with love. They may insult you or do any other harmful thing to you, but your heavenly Father knows how He will fight for you and reward both of you accordingly.
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).