Love others, be kind, do good
What would you think of a man who finds that his home is on fire, and then, instead of rushing to pour water to quench the fire, he finds a wooden stick, dips it in gasoline, puts a match to it, and throws it into his home?
I would think he’s nuts.
Yet, a lot of people are like that when it comes to relationships. A friend or family member is offended, and instead of doing something to ease off the offence we tend to say something that only angers the person even more. Soon the relationship is affected to an extent that repair is expensive or impossible. And both of you lose!
Having a nice, fast car is useless if there are no long, straight highways to drive it on. If all you have around you is jungle then a car is a waste.
In the same way, if you are at odds with many of the people around you for no good reason then you will be waste a lot of effort pushing through trying to get things done, and you will end up accomplishing little.
If you’ve tried to help someone with advice and you sense resistance then stop ‘helping’. If you continue to ‘help’ you will only create friction. This is especially true when you deal with people who live and work close to you. You have to give people the freedom to be as wise and as excellent as they want to be, not as excellent and as wise as you think they should be.
God is like that, and the apostle Paul pointed it out this way…
2 Cor 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
In other words, the person in charge (i.e. the Lord) is the Holy Spirit (i.e. the Spirit), and where He is in charge, there is liberty or freedom for people to be as holy and as wise and as excellent as they want to be. As we see the greatness of God clearly in the life of Jesus, and eagerly desire to be like Him, we will get transformed to be like Him with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Here is a nugget of wisdom from the book of Proverbs…
Prov 19:11 A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.
So avoid getting into arguments and taking offence when someone does something that you consider offensive. Instead of responding in like manner, respond in goodness and kindness and love. And do it without compromising on the truth of what you believe.
When your enemies see you behaving like that they will respect and admire you (even if they don’t admit it openly) and some of them will even become your loyal friends.
Isn’t that the best way to conquer an enemy?
God is like that…
Rom 5:6-8 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
And He encourages us to be the same…
Lk 6:32-35 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men."
Unless you truly believe that exhibiting such behavior is the nature of God, and the most valuable thing in the universe, and that God will always cause everything to work for your good, you will find it difficult to exhibit such behavior.
If you keep your life free from petty strife with people around you then you will reserve your energy and time and money for truly great things.
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