“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men (people). 19.Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
People who don’t try to live at peace with other people, and who seek to avenge themselves, as a general rule have their “noses out of joint.” What do I mean by that? I mean that they are thin-skinned and carry a chip on their shoulders. These are the people who are the hardest to be around, because you always have to watch what you say or do around them, lest you hurt their feelings. I do not consider myself one of these people, but I must admit that there are times when my “nose is out of joint.” Those are the times that I really don’t like myself very much. The only problem is that I can’t get away from myself. I feel like this when I feel that I have been treated unfairly. (Another word for it is self-pity.) Then I try to remember that my feelings can be hurt only if I allow them to be hurt. Even if I feel that someone is intentionally trying to hurt my feelings, it is still the same. The responsibility to remember that I am a Christian is on me, not on an antagonist. These times are rare in my life, but when they come I have to do a lot of praying to get myself back on target. Unfortunately, we are living in a time when people get their feelings hurt easily, and they won’t hesitate to tell you. We have to watch what we say about anything, lest we say something politically incorrect and inadvertently hurt someone’s feelings. I think that we are not better people for it. I’m thinking right now of Jesus. All He ever did while on earth was to help people. He healed the sick and the lame, (Excuse me, I should have written medically impaired). He taught people to love one another and to “bear with” one another. He even taught that if someone hits you on the right side of your face, turn the other cheek and let them hit the left side. It’s funny that when we mention that in public, especially to a group of men, we say “in a pig’s eye.” (I don’t mean to demean pigs here, nor would I want to hurt one, except to barbecue it.)He taught that we should treat others as we want to be treated. It’s called the “Golden Rule.” Jesus didn’t call it that, but we do. If we would follow the Golden Rule, maybe even the thinnest of skins would not be punctured. Whatever the case, all that Jesus ever did was to love and help people. The only group of people that He really got angry with were the thin-skinned, self-righteous Pharisees. I think that He only talked negatively to them in order to try and help them to get over themselves. Yet after all of the good that He did, the crowds that seemed to love and adore Him, turned on Him when He turned out not to be what they thought He should be, and they put Him on a cross. What were His first words from that cross? Let me see, did He say, “this is not fair”? No. Did He say, “why are you doing this to me, I haven’t hurt any of you”? No. Did He say, “I’ll get you for this”? No. What He said was, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” If anybody ever had a right to get His “nose out of joint,” it was Jesus. But He didn’t. He forgave. I know that we are not Jesus, but it wouldn’t hurt us to remember His example when our feelings are hurt and we want to retaliate. I know that when I don’t give in to my worst self and get my “nose out of joint,” I feel better about myself. In fact, when any of us overcome this tendency, we are just being downright Christ like. Try it! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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