Jesus defended the children when the disciples wanted to get them out of the way.
Jesus defended women on multiple occasions (healing, woman at the well, etc.)
Jesus defended outcast minorities via the Samaritans (woman at the well, using a Samaritan in the Good Shepherd parable, etc.)
Jesus defended a woman caught in adultery who was about to be given the death penalty.
Jesus defended you and me, knowing how our lives would turn out and how we would curse His name (if not in word, then in action) at times in our lives.
Who would God have us to defend? Is it that person we talked about here? The co-worker no one likes? The customer/patient/neighbor everyone wants to pass off? The check out clerk who is having a bad day....all month! The person in line at the grocery store who is being a jerk to everyone. The screaming kids at the store/library/mall.
The ethnic minority that scares us? The ethnic majority that gets slighted in the name of equality? The black lives that matter? The cop lives that matter? The homosexual couple you know that gets hate because of their lifestyle? The heterosexual couple you know that gets hate because they take a personal stand against homosexuality? The family that has aborted their baby? The family that hatefully responds to abortionists? The person running for president that you don't agree with (....maybe that is ALL of them). Did Christ die for all of these people or not? Seriously!!! We get so caught up with not wanting our action to somehow justify sin that we forget to love the sinner. Then the world just sees people who hate people instead of people who have a moral and ethical stand against actions/behaviors, but not against people.
So, I would encourage you to start with prayer for them. Just like I encouraged you to when I wrote my blog about praying for people we don't like. However, I want you to pray that God works in you (again) and then that God working in your actions and life. Let this be about more than just prayer. Let it be about us acting out the love of Jesus. We took "What Would Jesus Do" and made it trivial and irrelevant. Which is disappointing. Because if you look at the example of Jesus in the New Testament and literally asked yourself "I wonder what Jesus would do in this situation to show love without justifying sin" I guarantee you most of us would respond and live differently than we do today!
To God be the glory.
Jesus defended women on multiple occasions (healing, woman at the well, etc.)
Jesus defended outcast minorities via the Samaritans (woman at the well, using a Samaritan in the Good Shepherd parable, etc.)
Jesus defended a woman caught in adultery who was about to be given the death penalty.
Jesus defended you and me, knowing how our lives would turn out and how we would curse His name (if not in word, then in action) at times in our lives.
Who would God have us to defend? Is it that person we talked about here? The co-worker no one likes? The customer/patient/neighbor everyone wants to pass off? The check out clerk who is having a bad day....all month! The person in line at the grocery store who is being a jerk to everyone. The screaming kids at the store/library/mall.
The ethnic minority that scares us? The ethnic majority that gets slighted in the name of equality? The black lives that matter? The cop lives that matter? The homosexual couple you know that gets hate because of their lifestyle? The heterosexual couple you know that gets hate because they take a personal stand against homosexuality? The family that has aborted their baby? The family that hatefully responds to abortionists? The person running for president that you don't agree with (....maybe that is ALL of them). Did Christ die for all of these people or not? Seriously!!! We get so caught up with not wanting our action to somehow justify sin that we forget to love the sinner. Then the world just sees people who hate people instead of people who have a moral and ethical stand against actions/behaviors, but not against people.
So, I would encourage you to start with prayer for them. Just like I encouraged you to when I wrote my blog about praying for people we don't like. However, I want you to pray that God works in you (again) and then that God working in your actions and life. Let this be about more than just prayer. Let it be about us acting out the love of Jesus. We took "What Would Jesus Do" and made it trivial and irrelevant. Which is disappointing. Because if you look at the example of Jesus in the New Testament and literally asked yourself "I wonder what Jesus would do in this situation to show love without justifying sin" I guarantee you most of us would respond and live differently than we do today!
To God be the glory.
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