The One Who is Not
People. I'm not at all sure that "people who need people are the luckiest people in the world," as the song made popular by Barbra Streisand suggests. After all, some of the people I know are the last ones I can depend on for moral support when things get tough.
Relationships can be very difficult at times, often becoming the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. There are "poisonous people" or "silent but deadly" ones who leave us in such a state of hurt and frustration that we often become obsessed and guilt-ridden by our own negative emotions and inability or unwillingness to forgive them and simply move on. While it is possible to distance ourselves from some, quite often we find that these difficult-to-love people are members of our own families or co-workers who share office space with us each day. And sometimes, whether or not we want to admit it, the poisonous person is us.
Why do we give these people such power over our lives when instead we should be investing our affections and basing our self-worth in the One who is NOT like them? Why can't we be more like Jesus instead of allowing the ones who are not like him to bring out the worst in us?
The Bible is full of passages describing Jesus as being full of grace and truth, love, and the giver of peace that surpasses our understanding. Yet in our humanity we often miss the mark of showing grace, being truthful about ourselves and the way we feel, and loving others the way he loves us.
Perhaps the most helpful, and hard to live by, passage in all of Scripture is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. When we replace the word "love" with Jesus, we get a clear idea of his character and the way we should live. When we read that passage with our name inserted, we quickly see how short we fall of the mark. So, do we just throw up our hands in despair and abandon the effort? Not if we truly desire to be the face and testimony of God to those in our lives who need him most.
Let us endeavor to pray for one another and resolve to live as Jesus, the one who was patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily-angered, not mindful of the wrongs done to him by those like us. Let us not delight in evil but instead rejoice with the truth, always protecting, hoping, and persevering as we strive to be more like him.
Copyright © 2012 by Dee Dee
Wike. All rights reserved. www.deedeewike.com
Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com
Relationships can be very difficult at times, often becoming the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. There are "poisonous people" or "silent but deadly" ones who leave us in such a state of hurt and frustration that we often become obsessed and guilt-ridden by our own negative emotions and inability or unwillingness to forgive them and simply move on. While it is possible to distance ourselves from some, quite often we find that these difficult-to-love people are members of our own families or co-workers who share office space with us each day. And sometimes, whether or not we want to admit it, the poisonous person is us.
Why do we give these people such power over our lives when instead we should be investing our affections and basing our self-worth in the One who is NOT like them? Why can't we be more like Jesus instead of allowing the ones who are not like him to bring out the worst in us?
The Bible is full of passages describing Jesus as being full of grace and truth, love, and the giver of peace that surpasses our understanding. Yet in our humanity we often miss the mark of showing grace, being truthful about ourselves and the way we feel, and loving others the way he loves us.
Perhaps the most helpful, and hard to live by, passage in all of Scripture is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. When we replace the word "love" with Jesus, we get a clear idea of his character and the way we should live. When we read that passage with our name inserted, we quickly see how short we fall of the mark. So, do we just throw up our hands in despair and abandon the effort? Not if we truly desire to be the face and testimony of God to those in our lives who need him most.
Let us endeavor to pray for one another and resolve to live as Jesus, the one who was patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily-angered, not mindful of the wrongs done to him by those like us. Let us not delight in evil but instead rejoice with the truth, always protecting, hoping, and persevering as we strive to be more like him.
Copyright © 2012 by Dee Dee
Wike. All rights reserved. www.deedeewike.com
Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com
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