I ran into someone today, from the past. This person is not fond of my family, for one reason or another…. And truly that’s ok. God tells us in His word that we will be persecuted, Matthew 5:10 to be exact. Recently I have developed the true understanding of compassion, which I never thought I had much of- which leads to my appointment with God today.
I was at a particular place at a particular time, which I will fail to mention, only because it will be easy to figure out who I may be talking about. That specific name is not of importance but only the value of the lesson to be learned.
My lessons begins, as this person I have not seen in a while nears me… as this person nears me so does thick air (you might know this as tension, I know this as spiritual warfare). The amazing part is this person looked at me (in my eyes) and decided to continue to walk right by me completely failing to return my “hi!” Boohoo poor me right??? As this person continued to walk by, and did not even address the fact that I was standing there, my heart begin to break. I must add; a few years ago I might have been thinking very ungodly words about this person but I can boldy say I have been washed by the overflowing waters of God’s amazing love and forgiveness.
Lesson: This person was/is a pastor’s wife, I do not want to intentionally knock on pastors wives, it is a hard road, but the title comes with an amount of respect from the world. The world considers pastors and their families to be ‘spiritual’ – the truth is, that’s not always the case and it’s sad. I say that, to say this: even as you walk with the title Christian to your name, we are held accountable for our actions and words. The sad thing is, that even within the ‘body of Christ’ there can be so much friction. If we choose to judge, slander and treat God’s children (our sisters and brothers in Christ) like they are scum and we can walk all over- how do we expect the world to treat us???
Two verses come to mind to go along with this life lesson...the Man himself sent me…
Proverbs 20:11 NIV
11 Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.
Romans 3:19 NIV
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
My prayer: Please allow me to love everyone as Jesus loved, even when it seems hard. Even in a split second someone will either see Jesus radiant in and thru us, or they won’t.
Hey babe! Another great day of blogging...actually checking on your email settings for you...Luv u!
ReplyDeleteMe again....lets see if it works this time!
ReplyDeleteIt worked...sweet...love you and proud of ya!
ReplyDeleteBritney, You are so right! As Christians, we think of each other as having the same beliefs and strengths. Unfortunately, as we grow in the Lord, we come to see and realize that many Christians do not walk the walk, they just talk the talk. It is always heartbreaking to me to see other Christians treat their brothers and sisters in Christ in a bad way. Just keep up doing what you are doing - God will bless you and reward you for your faithfulness. You are doing a great job!
ReplyDeleteI know that heartbreak you speak of, and I am sorry you are having to deal with this. What is worse is that it is coming from someone who should know better, not only as an adult, but as a pastor's wife.
ReplyDeleteKeep the positive attitude and remember to pray for her! We know God can change the heart of anyone if He chooses, and we also know it will help us as well! =)