If you happen to have people in your life that rub you the wrong way, pay attention. These are in your life to mature you in the very nature of Jesus.
The truth is God loves everyone and we don't. We remain selective. Yes, we know the verses about loving your neighbor, loving your enemies, and that love never keeps score. But....that isn't us.
It should be.
We are given the Holy Spirit to treat others as would God. While Romans 2:1-5 will not budge from its accusation that whatever we are critical of we are guilty of ourselves, we still find justification with our inner-explanation as to why we don't care for certain individuals.
Each of these "individuals" is in our path for a reason. They are testing grounds to see how we are progressing in the areas He expects to be coming from His authentic disciples; love for others.
Why do some people, at this stage of our lives, still bug us? We still have that offensive childish nature to label others according to their behavior. We are often still in kindergarten where we are irritated by both the sin and the sinner. May we grow to realize the reason people bug us is one of the purposes of God.
4 comments:
I wish I was in kindergarten! I think I'm in the toddler room on this one! Trying to have a Godly/Biblical world view about everything, it's comforting to view those people as in our path for a reason. If He can lovingly allow "big" trials and even tragedy in our lives to mold us into being more like Jesus (James 1), why can't he allow the little nuisances too? Thanks!
Jay
Alright, I gave you an upgraded article! Hope you're happy. ;) Thanks for being you. Love you!
WOW, this is a tough one for me! It's most difficult for me to 'tolerate' those people who are so mean, cruel, etc. but you're correct in that they're in my path in order for my personal growth. Thanks for the reminder - I needed it!
This past week was, at times, challenging in this area. I was blessed to have others around me who modeled God's love at times I wanted to lash out. A great learning and growing opportunity for me. Thanks for the reminder.
Post a Comment