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| "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." (Luke 6:45) |
Hurt
people, hurt people. We are finding that
more and more in this day and age. We
have a choice, we can let the domino affect continue on with us or we can
choose to reflect that we have a Savior who went through what we have gone
through and even more. If He was able to
say, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do…” Then we should be
willing to do the same.
Now that
doesn’t mean it is easy. That doesn’t
mean we don’t feel the sting or the smarting of someone’s meanness or actions –
but what it does mean is that we have to be the one to “rise above it.”Oh that is sooooooo much easier said than done… Everything inside us cries out to hurt back. Why? Because hurt people HURT people. Sometimes we have to look beyond the actions at the individual. I think perhaps that is the example that Jesus has given us. It is not any easy thing to do.
There have been situations that have occurred in my life where I have wondered HOW Jesus actually stayed focus on His calling. He was ostracized, judged, critiqued, used, lied to, betrayed, physically beaten and STILL He stayed focus on His mission here on earth. How can ANYONE not see that He is God manifested on earth as man to make a way for us back to the Father? We simply naturally do not have that ability to love THAT WAY without the Holy Spirit manifested inside of us.
I found myself thinking this week about how the crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!"(Matthew 21:9) These were the same crowd who cried out, “Crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21).
I find
myself wondering time and time again why Jesus chose to love us. We are such a stiff necked, hard headed
people. We are willful and prideful and
full of ourselves. Jesus could have
called down legions upon legions to assist Him, but no – He chose to go forward
and die on the cross for forgiveness of our sins. A man who had done NOTHING wrong, to know Him
and to love Him is to stand in awe of WHO He is… I know I don’t love like
that. Do you? We need to look to Him as our example. More of Him - less of us, even during the times when we may have to bite our own tongues until they bleed...
“God have mercy upon us. Forgive us. Help us. Indwell your Holy Spirit in us so that when
people disappoint and hurt us we respond in the way You did. Help us to look BEYOND the pain. Hurt people HURT people. Healed people HEAL people. Heal us Father. Help us to focus on YOU.” 
