1 Peter 3:8-9
Finally, all of you should agree and have concern and love for each other. You should also be kind and humble. Don’t be hateful and insult people just because they are hateful and insult you. Instead, treat everyone with kindness. You are God’s chosen ones, and he will bless you.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
When New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio spoke at the funeral of slain NYPD office Rafael Ramos, hundreds of policemen who had gathered outside the church turned their backs to the building in a sign of dissatisfaction with the mayor. The police union officials maintain that DeBlasio made comments that fostered mistrust in the city’s police force. This gesture was meant as an insult to the mayor…but some claim that it served no good purpose at this event. And scripture would tend to bear support this.
Do not misunderstand me. We live in a country where people are free to express their opinions. We’ve heard a lot about “peaceful protest” of late…and I guess this response could qualify. But at the same time, we have to look at the big picture – and at least TRY to see things the way God sees them.
In God’s eyes, we are all equals…capable of doing great good – and great evil. After church today, Timothy was expressing how he tries to be good, but sometimes he is not. I reminded him that we all have to work at “being good”…and at times, we all fall short. But we keep trying. He said, “But it’s a lot of work!” And he is right! And sometimes, loving others and offering them grace and mercy in the face of disappointments, hurts and insults is really hard! But we don’t have to look very far to find the perfect Example of this in action - Jesus Christ.
We will never be insulted, disappointed, hurt, disrespected, or mistreated like Jesus. Yet He took it all…and He did this for us! Jesus treated everyone with kindness…even those who were nailing Him to the cross. He asked God to forgive them…reminding God that they didn’t have a clue what they were really doing! Jesus demonstrated for each of us exactly how we are to treat others…regardless of what is done to us in return.
So the question becomes…”Do you want to be like Jesus?” If your answer is “Yes,” then you cannot turn your back on others…physically or figuratively. You cannot hurl insults, operate with intolerance, or treat others unkindly. You must “take the high road” – even when every fiber of your being wants to respond otherwise. Anything less than this essentially amounts to turning your back on Jesus. And none of us wants to do that.
©2014 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment