January 14, 2007 | Matthew 5:46-47
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Everybody has a story to tell, but yet every one of those stories talks of problems that are similar to the problems other people face. These can be of loss and achievement, love and hate, anger, fear and the general feeling associated with a full life as well as the realization that many opportunities were lost do to inaction or just getting caught up in the people of this world running by as if you are standing still.
I had a friend that once told me that he thought I was eccentric because I wrote sermons on my web site. He asked me, "What's in it for you?" Now I could have said a lot of things. But what comes to my mind most of all is giving people hope. Once in a while I get a "thank you for the sermon" and have even had a person or two say, "Thank God for you." Now I am not repeating these statements to be arrogant or boast of the sermons on this web site. I am only trying to point out that if all your interested in doing is something that will benefit you, then your life will never be as enriched as you would like it to.
I have read many kinds of emotional feedback, some positive and some negative, but I have felt that it is important to realize that there may be some people I might have helped that never said anything as far as feedback is concerned.
Matthew 5:46-47 If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much. 47 If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that. TLB
I think in the above reference Jesus was referring to loving your enemies, but I think He was also saying that we need to love others who may not love us back. This is what makes the world go round, not the billionaires who may try to control others. Not the politicians who make empty promises. But what comes into our hearts on a daily basis that shapes and educates us so that we can make decisions made as a result of common sense.
Common flaws in character aside, we are made in the image that God wanted us to be in. We are imperfect, we make mistakes on a daily basis, not because we want to but because we are trying to live the best lives we can regardless of the changes in our lives and the influences of those around us. We can choose to give up or we can stand our ground, take what life dishes out and be the better for it.
Lester was a schnoodle that knew what he wanted as his paws and snout cleared the top of the table. The man and woman he had grown to love were eating a Christmas dinner of ham and applesauce. Even the sauce looked good to him. He had been adopted as a pup several years ago and cherished every moment of his life because he was loved and was often given the ultimate treat, a walk in the neighborhood.
Now to us Lester had a very boring life. But to him he had one filled with all the good stuff that made him happy. There were the treats, the occasional tasty morsel from the table, the scratches on the belly, and the neighborhood cat that ran up the tree every time she saw him to honor his presence.
1 Chronicles 17:18-19 What else can I say? You know that I am but a dog , yet you have decided to honor me! 19 O Lord, you have given me these wonderful promises just because you want to be kind to me, because of your own great heart. TLB
Lester's masters had been unhappy the last several weeks and were often shouting at each other. Lester did not know what the fuss was about. They had enough to eat. They had a nice place to live in, and they accompanied him on his walks. So to Lester, what else was there and why get upset over it?
Do you feel like Lester sometimes, on the outside looking in and not liking what you see? We can choose to get angry and shout, or we can step back a bit and start to contemplate what the fuss is all about. We may not have gotten what we wanted out of the relationship. We could have done better, possibly. But what is better? Is it some fantasy we have cooked up in our brains? Or do we think that there is this relationship out there waiting for us that does not have any problems that need resolving?
I often wish, when I hear of people getting a divorce, that they could have stepped back and really analyzed what the fuss was about. The hurt feelings, and the feelings of abandonment, or that they just do not get us. But yet there is always that thought that there is something better out there waiting. I wonder sometimes, how many people that get a divorce, actually find something better.
We can choose to give up or we can take the bull by the horns, step back, and see what is right in front of us and give ourselves a pat on the back for making it this far. See the person for what they used to be and are, and maybe laugh at our own sense of perfectionism, and the expectation that the significant other should be more perfect than than we could ever be ourselves.
So instead of judging others, see inside yourself and realize that no matter how perfect you think you are, God still loves you anyway.
Prayer: Dear Lord. Sometimes we have a tendency to judge others rather than looking inside ourselves at the imperfections that cause us to judge. At these times, give us the insight to realize that we make mistakes. Help us to know the difference and the lack of it between being misunderstood and misunderstanding others. Because no matter how eccentric we think others are we have ways in which we are the same way. Help us to realize that and to not judge others so much. We thank you for all your many blessings. Amen.
Benediction: Now, Lord, Bless us in our daily lives. Help us to smell the roses whenever possible, to shine our light on those less fortunate than us, and lead us in the path we should go. For you are the light that keeps our path well lit. Help us to follow it, until we meet you, in a land where milk and honey abound, a place where our most wonderful dreams are fulfilled. Amen.
Hi, my name is Bryan, a messenger of hope who would love to hear from you. God Bless.
© 2007 Bryan Hill
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