Our Choices

Yesterday I read a post from someone on Facebook, the post read, if you treat me right I will treat you right no matter what your race is. That got me to thinking, how many times do we do that, we base how we treat others in how they treat us. Jesus said what we are to do in Matthew 5:44-45 "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Or in Matthew 7:12 Jesus says "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." In Romans 12:20 Paul wrote "On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.""

In our world today, it is easy to think that just because someone treats me wrong, it is alright if I treat them wrong, but the truth is, it is not alright, in fact it is wrong. We are called to love no matter what, that doesn't mean we agree with them. In Luke 19:1-10 Jesus came into Jericho and Zacchaeus was the Chief tax collector, he wronged people out of money, he wasn't nice and in fact he scammed people out of the money they had, just to pay the Romans. But out of all the people in that crowd Jesus called to Zacchaeus and told him to come out of the tree so He could go eat at his house. Can you imagine that? Jesus chose Zacchaeus out of the crowd to go eat there, because He demonstrated to us how we are to love, we don't love the sin, we love the sinner. We are called to love as Jesus loves, not just our spouse, kids, but our neighbors, those we come in contact with.

It comes down to our choices, yes that is correct, they are our choices. If I get yelled at, I have a choice to either yell back or to take a breath and reply out of respect, because that is how I want to be treated. If I am disrespected, it is my choice if I disrespect back towards that person, because God calls me to love them no matter what. That is such a hard thing to do and many times I fail to do just what Jesus says to do. I want to get even, to settle the score, to tell that person why they are wrong, but Jesus has called me to respond out of love, to love that person no matter what. He didn't say it would be easy, but it is good. People will see Jesus not because you hate them, not because you reject them, but because you love them no matter what. Let God do the judging, but let us make a choice that no matter what happens today, we respond out of love.

I have choices to make today, they are my choice, my reactions, they are mine, no one else can make me react a certain way, yes, I will blame others for my choices, but they are mine. The calling is to love, to stop reacting, to stop blaming and to start taking responsibility for your reactions, for your responses and when I stop blaming, God will work on changing my heart, it is a heart issue, not anyone else's issue.

Lord, I come before you today and I thank you for Friday, I thank you for a brand new day and the extra benefit that it is the end of the week. I want to serve you, I want to honor you in how I am. I ask that you forgive me for how I have made bad choices to respond to others, that I have reacted instead of loving, that I have blamed others instead of taking a stand to say I was wrong. Lord I need your help to treat others as I want to be treated. Help the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart to be pleasing to you (Psalm 19:14).  I thank you for your grace, help me to not think more highly myself, but rather think of myself with sober judgement, in accordance to You (Romans 12:3). Jesus You are the way the truth and the life (John 14:6), Your way is higher than my way (Isaiah 55:9). Help me to allow you to lead. Let it not be about me, but about you my Father in Heaven. Thank you for your love and I love you Lord. In this I pray Amen.

Today, I want to challenge you to look at your reactions with others, are they in accordance to the word of God or are they out of the lies that the devil has spun. The devil wants us to believe that we do not have control over our own actions, that it is alright to blame others, that it is OK to react in the bad ways, but Jesus Christ has come to speak the truth, to lead us and to guide us. The devil has come to rob, kill and to destroy. Don't allow the devil to keep winning, stand and allow Jesus to change your heart. It isn't a earth issue, it is a heart issue.