an excerpt from Greg’s book “Diary of a Witness”

Soon after I was filled with the Holy Spirit, the Lord opened the door for me to go to work for a cement company. Although it was very physically demanding work to begin with, the pay was good and it was close to home. My first duty there was to stand at the bottom of a conveyer belt and catch 94 pound cement sacks as they came down the conveyer slide and stack them on a wood pallet. It didn’t require a lot of mental assertion but it did keep me in shape.
I was the new guy working with a present crew of five at this shipping terminal. I was the only Christian at the time. Two of the guys I worked with, whom I will call Bill and Jay, made it their mission in life to see if my belief and talk of Jesus was real by testing me continually. The guy named Jay used to greet me each day with a wave of his hand but did not use all his fingers. Several hours a day we would stack the cement sacks and then take turns loading the bulk trucks whenever one came through the gate and rang the bell. Loading a bulk truck was a welcome break that usually took 15 to 20 minutes of time away from the stacking. This one guy catching sacks with me started to take all the trucks that came in, leaving me there to stack the cement sacks alone. The other guy at the top would drop the sacks faster than normal to make me work harder when his friend was away. I would smile and just do my best to keep up. As it got closer to the lunch break, I was looking forward to the break from the lifting and the time to read my pocket new testament I took every day to work. I was hungry for the Word and I studied to effectively share the gospel to those I worked with. As lunch time approached we all hoped that no trucks would come in to interrupt our lunch.

Just as it was time to break for lunch a truck came in and the guy who had been taking all the trucks, leaving me alone at the bottom of the catch table, turned to me and said, "You can get it." It was our lunch break and he wasn't going to load any more trucks. I felt set up and used. “No way” I thought: you’re not going to use me like that. So I took off my hard hat and safety goggles and looked him in the eye and said, in an intimidating voice, "You go get the truck." He looked at me startled and walked away. As soon as he walked away my heart sank. Conviction! I felt like crawling under the catch table and never coming out. I had allowed them to get to me and my flesh rose up to the point of me becoming angry with rage and willing to fight over it. I'm sure the devil was chuckling over my lack of fruit.
I finished sacking and walked into the restroom looking for a place to be alone. I took the seat in the far stall and buried my head in my hands saying, "Lord I really blew it." I grabbed my pocket Bible I always carried and opened it to encourage myself. I stared in amazement as it fell open to these words,

“For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”- (James 1:20 NAS)

(How does God do that?) I bowed my head and said, "God, please forgive me for getting angry. I'm so sorry." Immediately peace came back into my heart and then the Lord spoke to me to apologize to him. I really struggled with that. As a new Christian, I wondered what it would do to my testimony (as if I had one right now). I walked out of my seclusion into the lunchroom and saw him sitting at the lunch table. I was glad we were alone. I looked at him and said, "Bill, what I did out there was wrong. Please forgive me for getting angry at you like that." To my relief, he was very gracious. He probably felt his part wasn't right either, but He did reply, "It's OK, nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes." Still not happy with my performance and wanting him to know Jesus is not like that, I replied "You know, you’re right, I said, except Jesus was perfect and didn't make any mistakes and my desire is to change and be like him." And with that we changed the subject. From then on our relationship changed for the better. The other worker named Jay never let up. He continued to give me that special wave of the hand. But God was changing my heart and, as I prayed for each of them, a real love began to rise up in me. Through the Grace of God it is possible to love our enemies and to pray for those who despitefully use us. - "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same?” And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:44-48