Many
people live life by pushing the envelope. They exist on the edge, take risks,
indulge in extreme sports, test fate and laugh in the face of danger. Even as
Christians, some people want to dabble in sin and break God's rules to ensure their
personal freedom.
However,
we actually find more freedom in walking away from sin, than in allowing its
devastation to impact our life even to the smallest degree. As Christians we
are the best citizen, employee, benefactor and role model anyone could ever meet.
They
say that "No good deed goes unpunished." Our motive for what we say
and do is often misunderstood, we are rejected or treated with disrespect and
animosity, when we do not deserve it. God encourages us to keep on doing good
deeds and showing love anyway.
God
knows the truth about what happened. He will convict us if we did wrong, and help
us to apologize for anything we did to trigger their reaction. Otherwise, we
can hold our head high (Psalm 3:3), and dismiss the other person's perception
of what occurred as just their opinion.
Jesus
suffered every temptation and hardship common to all of us. He was wrongfully
rejected and despised, and others spoke evil of the good that He did. They
crucified Him unjustly, but it was all in God's plan for our salvation.
Our
Savior gives us an example of how to react to unjust treatment by forgiving
those who nailed Him to the cross. He realized that they did not know what they
were actually doing (Luke 23:34). He did not defend Himself to His accusers,
and He did not call His angel army to deliver Him (Matthew 27:14; 1 Peter 2:23).
Jesus
suffered in silence, drawing strength from our Heavenly Father to endure the
cross. If there had been any other way by which we could be saved, our Father
would have answered Jesus' garden prayer to let the bitter cup of God's wrath
for our sins to pass from Him (Mathew 26:39).
Prayer:
Father
God, there is no one and nothing in this world more important to us than Your
Son, Jesus Christ. He is our life, our center, our balance, and our salvation
in every situation (Colossians 3:3-4). His wounds provide our healing, His
nature replaces our own, and He abides within us - giving us His righteousness,
divine nature and spiritual character.
We
thank You that our Good Shepherd left the ninety-nine and came after each one
of us when we were lost sheep in this painful and scary world. We thank You for
giving us Your direction each moment of the day, so that we can dwell in the
center of Your will for us. We give You all of the praise and glory for
everything that Christ in us accomplishes through us.
Thought
for the Day:
The
Lord God is a shield to us, He is our source of glory and the lifter of our
head when our choices, the world and the devil attempt to cripple us mentally,
emotionally, financially, and spiritually; they rob us of the righteousness,
peace and joy that we receive from the Holy Spirit.
- Psalm 3:3; Romans 14:17
