Being a superior jerk! Read! You must not take revenge nor hold a grudge against any of your people; instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18 You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you that you must not oppose those who want to hurt you. If people slap you on your right cheek, you must turn the left cheek to them as well. You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:38-39, 43-45 Reflect! Probably the hardest part of loving our neighbor is resisting the urge to strike back when somebody does something hurtful to us. If somebody calls us a name, its hard to not go there. If somebody makes fun of us, its hard to not respond the same way. And, if somebody were to give us a shove...well... Its an instantaneous reaction--a reflex. If somebodys being a jerk to us, we really want to respond in the only way that person is going to understand--by being a jerk back. And we cant just be a regular jerk. No. We have to one-up the person by being a superior jerk. You may not be surprised to hear that Jesus didnt call us to be superior jerks. Jesus called us to be peacemakers. Respond! How do you stop a conflict? You refuse to continue it. Before you act, think. Instead of responding just show love. Walk away. I know wha youre thinking.. Easier said than done. Right? But start off positive! If you start by trying not to before you know it youll be not reacting to people right away! Relate! If todays devotion spoke to you in a particular way and you feel led to share your thoughts with us or others, please do so. God bless!
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 19:38:12 +0000
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