It's always a good thing to think, and in the span of the night, the words that I've been exposed to have been very thought-provoking, indeed.
I'm sure that you're one of the countless other people out there who have been judged or criticized. Or you can think of other words linked to this - hurt, abused, mocked, exploited, etc. There seems to be 2 most common courses of action to this.
You can lash out and react out of denial, out of pride. This does nothing but convince your enemy that his or her assumptions were true.
You can also sit down and ignore the attack. Perhaps you can act on the criticism discreetly, but this is dangerous. The seed left by the offense remains, and eventually you either resort to the first reaction, or you involuntarily allow the attack to change you for worse.
Jesus was definitely no stranger to ridicule, torment, temptation, bias, and all sorts of other abuse one human can throw to another. Think about this. He was beaten, whipped to a point that he was beyond recognition, and nailed to a cross, for accusations that He was innocent of.. and people STILL mocked him. Luke 23:35-39 tells us that the Pharisees, the people who had Him killed in the first place, jeered at Him even when He was at this state. They perceived they had victory over Jesus, and they still made fun of Him, laughing at Him while He was dying on the cross. The Romans took another approach - they offered Him a drink - of sour wine. In my opinion they could have given Him water - I mean, they COULD give Him a Pina Colada, but I'd rather have water instead of some stale wine that nobody would drink! On top of that, they also made fun of Him like any ordinary criminal.
And if that wasn't enough, even one of the criminals nailed to the cross beside Him took his shots. This guy was probably in the same state as Jesus was, and he apparently still had the nerve to mock the person beside him. Everyone taunted Him, because they did not believe Him. They judged Him. Go over those verses and you'll see that each party I mentioned here said something in the lines of, 'Hindi nga? Cge nga! Di mo yata kaya eh!'
Here's what I think. Jesus could have simply struck these people down, and sent them to Hell. He could have ripped His body from the nails and walked down from the cross to tell people, 'I TOLD YOU SO!'. He didn't because people would 'believe' in Him for their own purposes - in other words, a man who can step down from the cross after that sort of brutal treatment can do anything, in the opportunist's opinion. Or, He could have simply lashed out by giving the people what they wanted.
Jesus chose not to do so. He also did not choose to take the second option, to ignore it. Why? Check out Luke 23:34:
"Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing"
This tells me three things: (1) He did not take any of the common courses of action, (2) He took the THIRD course of action of forgiveness, and (3) He did this BEFORE they even started making fun of Him!
As children of God, we are called to forgive when being judged, as it is the only way for us to truly triumph over such assaults. We should take control of our feelings to ensure that we truly forgive people when we should - it is a hard process, but one worth enduring for. The results of forgiving may not be as impacting to you as it would be for the person you forgive; When we forgive people, we love them. See, in most situations to forgive is not merely providing forgiveness - you might want to recognize the times where your forgiving is an act of MERCY - or, forgiving someone who does not deserve to be forgiven.
Andy Stanley goes another route from here in this lesson, but I'm tying this to something I've learned through other people as well. We all know the Lord's prayer, and it includes the line "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us."
If you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you know that He died on that cross for your salvation, and therefore you know that you have been forgiven. Here's a challenge: God forgave you. Have you done your part in forgiving too? Have you demonstrated the love of God through forgiving people EVEN if they didn't deserve it? Think about that. God has all the reasons to cast you to Hell. But he chose to forgive you, by His grace He gave you mercy by sending His Son, HIS SON of ALL PEOPLE TO SEND, to suffer, to be mocked, to DIE on the cross for your sins, your imperfections.
The greatest act of mercy was done for us more than 2000 years ago.
I'm no perfect person. I'm a 23-year old boy, dependent on so many things, immature in so many ways. I struggle daily with pride, hatred, worry, and lust. I am aware that I have offended a good number of people directly and indirectly, in methods big and small.
I may be judged for this article, besides the many attacks of my enemies. I have to mention that a girl walked away from my life without saying goodbye. This has caused me pain through worry and frustration derived from helplessness and fear of the unknown.
I choose to forgive. I forgive Ms. Mendejar for the pain she caused me. I forgive you, the reader - you may have some anger, something against me, but I forgive you. You may not forgive me, but know that I forgive you. I say this out of faith.
As I finished this article, a friend I had difficulty in forgiving in the past sent me this text message:
"The best witness for Christ shows God's grace and shares His love.. have a great week ahead.."
He took advantage of me by making me do so much work for his gain. As I have forgiven Michel, I forgive him. You, the reader, are witness to this.
We should remind ourselves with each day that we breathe that though we can take revenge or submit to judgement by other people, there is the choice to forgive. Right after I watched Andy Stanley's sermon, I spoke to my mother and declared that I forgive her, based on what I just heard. Get this - I did the same to my dad. Some of my close friends know how I used to despise my father, and thank God for this lesson because this had to happen.
Try it yourself - as someone offends you, even for the SMALLEST thing, think: you can forgive, as you have been forgiven. It is, as Andy Stanley mentioned, the only way to win. It's easier said than done, but I pray for wisdom to fall upon you to understand.
As my friend wished for me, I wish you have a great week ahead. The picture you see was an HDR I took and now PP'd as I thought about and published this blog.
God bless you and all that concerns you.