Do you know people who make you crazy? People who are just
mean, or seem to be bent on making you look bad. I have lots of experience with
people like this. My challenge as a Christian is to love them.
So what does that mean to my walk with Jesus? It means I
have to be kind, patient, and look for opportunities to get along with them. Sometimes
this means saying I am wrong when I am not, saying I am sorry because they
perceive I have done something to offend them. Other times it means standing
and taking their anger and accusations quietly without lashing back.
Truthfully, this makes me crazy. I have difficulty
understanding why people are so proud. I believe they have not realized that
they are someday going to die and nothing they think right now is going to
amount to a hill of beans. I believe that pride, that preening little devil
that lives in us all, stands like a guardian on the cave of insecurity inside
us all. When we let pride free, we lose the ability to practice love.
I think of Jesus standing before the accusing crowd of
Pharisees and Pilot, listening to the nonsense they were all spouting. Jesus did
not say a word. What words would you have to rebuke such nonsense? Many times
when dealing with people I have no words. Some folks think I am weak, one
person told me I was “milk toast’.
But why should I shame my Savior just to look good to a
person who is going to die and turn into dust?
Matthew 5:44-46 (NKJV)
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you
and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes
His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?
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