So this reads as follows. . .
Finally, be all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but instead blessing; knowing that to this were you called, that you may inherit a blessing. For, “He who would love life, And see good days, Let him keep his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Now who is he who will harm you, if you become imitators of that which is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who ask you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear: having a good conscience; that, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good manner of the life in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil. Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
This wasn’t actually going to be my study for the night, far from it as I am, and have been for several days now, in a bit of a foul mood. Of late I have been consumed with feelings of rage, unfairness, bitterness and sheer hatred, and all this projected at a family member. I could sit here and bang on and on trying to justify this, but in reality nothing justifies it. People are just that, people and just because they do something or say some things that I may not agree with or find to be appropriate, who the hell am I to judge, to persecute and disparage? Never mind what sort of Christian does this make me, but what kind of person? The kind of person I do not want to be, and that’s what this boils down to.
Whether you are a Christian, or not I think the Bible is a very good way to live your life, full of moral guidelines, emotional support and clear cut fundamentals that will stand you in good stead. Yet I tend to meander off every now and again and forget the love and meekness that first drew me to the Lord. The promises I made to follow in His footsteps, they seem to go out the window all too quickly sometimes and before I comprehend what’s going on I have lost the rag, lashed out at people I believe to be wrong and broken the basic standards of Christianity. Believe me, not a nice thing to realise.
So what can I do to change this? I could sit here, pass the buck and suggest I am only human and am definitely allowed to make such mistakes, but you and I know that’s rubbish, we learn from mistakes, not enhance them at any given opportunity.
It isn’t easy being a Christian, I knew that from the start, we all do. It’s not sign up and life is a walk in the park, far from it. It’s hard graft, it’s tiring emotionally, mentally and physically, it’s frustrating and infuriating at times, but beyond that it’s beautiful, it’s comfort and peace, it’s acceptance and freedom and more than all this is love.
The verse that stuck out to me was 3:8&9, Finally, be all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but instead blessing; knowing that to this you were called.
Toughie or what? It’s not saying fight back, or turn the other cheek. It’s saying when faced with conflict or turmoil then show that you care, show love, be supportive, do not insult when you yourself are faced with insult and do not take the “an eye for an eye” attitude and hurt others just because they have hurt you. Instead we show kindness, we pray for those who hurt us, we are to forgive such people and understand that in order for us to be forgiven, then we ourselves must be able to forgive. Sticks in your throat a little doesn’t it?
I, no doubt will continue to struggle with this in the coming weeks. I do have a lot of work to do and I must remember that through Him all things are possible. No matter how much I sit here and say to myself, “She doesn’t deserve it, she’s a waste of skin and I hope she pays for this”, I must understand and be open to the thought that I shouldn’t be thinking these things, I shouldn’t be saying these things and I should be saying “well that is her opinion, the Lord will give me the strength I need to not rise to the bait, to show humility and obedience to Him and to show me the right way and guide me throughout.”
When things are close to the bone, particularly with family disputes where emotions will be running high, ‘cause let’s be honest love and hate run so close together we must continue in our aspiration to be Christ-like. To be a good, respectable and loving child of God.
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