Toilet Paper Roll Control

Imagine you are replacing the toilet paper roll in your bathroom. Do you have the toilet paper hide under the back of the roll or let it caress nicely over the top? Clearly, there is a right answer here. It is my way. My way is the right way. Didn’t you know? Your toilet paper should definitely hang over the roll for a nice aesthetic appeal and ease in removing the desired number of squares. That is, unless you have a cat. Cats will unroll your entire roll from what I’ve been told. But if you are cat-free, then obviously, you should be doing things in the way in which I have described.

Right?

I have strong feelings regarding toilet paper. First of all, I’ll spend money on the soft, fluffy, multi-ply goodness. You can keep your thin, 1-ply, cheap rolls. If you visit my home, you’re getting the good stuff. It’s just one area in which I will splurge. Of course, with the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020, I was forced to purchase whatever I could get my hands on. I didn’t plan for everyone to wipe the aisles clear. The shortage forced me to compromise my strong toilet paper convictions.

Now, you may have to know me personally to truly understand how opinionated I can be at times. I’m working on it. When I think I’m right, I can tend to be quite dogged in trying to “help” someone see the right way. That being said, I’m the person who will visit the guest bathroom in your home and change the toilet paper roll to face the “correct” way. I’m shaking my head even as I type this. This is terrible! I have had such conviction about this recently. I have sat in three different bathrooms at the homes of family or friends and stared down the toilet paper roll. They beg to be changed. They pull at me and demand for me to right the wrong done.

But the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit whispers to me, “Why do you need to change it?”

I’m suddenly faced with my own sin issues. Control. Now, let me tell you, I’ve been tackling control issues for the last 9 months, and just when I feel like I’ve made so much progress, I am reminded again of my need for grace and a Savior. Control is such a tricky thing. The more you grasp at it, the less you seem to have. I realize that the toilet paper roll demonstrates a silly application, but nevertheless, it reveals my heart.

Why do I feel compelled to change it? Changing the roll says I know best. Changing the roll says I don’t respect someone else’s decisions. Changing the roll says I think I am more important than someone else. These are ugly and honest realizations to come to in someone’s bathroom. But that’s where these deep, convicting moments have happened - in the most humbling and vulnerable position one can possibly find herself.

The truth is I don’t always know best. I actually do love and respect the people around me, but I have to demonstrate this in my actions. I don’t honestly think I’m more important than everyone else, even though my actions have argued otherwise.

You’ll be happy to know that I have mustered all the Spirit’s self-control and given up mine and left these rolls alone. I’ve left them lying against the painted wall and hanging behind a brand new roll. I’ve left them because it doesn’t matter which way the toilet paper hangs. Changing it will draw attention to an unwelcome critique of bathroom decor, and leaving it draws absolutely no attention to me. And that’s okay. I don’t need any attention. I may enjoy it, but I don’t need it. There’s no need to come out of the bathroom and tell my friends and family my opinion either, hoping they see the light.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12

Being “right” isn’t all that it is cracked up to be. Blazing ahead being “right” and running people over in the process does not accomplish anything good. People get hurt. I’m not just talking about toilet paper. This lesson is far-reaching and applies to every space of our lives. One of the best lessons I’ve learned in teaching children is that sometimes you have to choose between being right and being happy. Being right can lead to death - the death of a relationship, career, ministry, opportunity, and much more. Laying down your right to be right is sometimes the purest act of love.

So, I’ve let go of the toilet paper roll control. And I’m continuing to let the Holy Spirit chip away at the old me as He continuously transforms me each day to look more like Jesus. I invite you to join me in laying down being right and choosing to be gracious to others in hopes that I will receive the same grace as I stumble through this life.