Come as you are. Experience God's love. Go out like Christ.
3864 Glenville Rd, Glenville, PA 17329
Come as you are. Experience God's love. Go out like Christ.
3864 Glenville Rd, Glenville, PA 17329
Do not repay evil with evil, or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this, you were called, so that you may inherit a blessing.
1Peter 3:9
I recently had a family member tell me the resurrection is Ludacris. And wow, that totally caught me off guard. My initial reaction was to ask, what do you mean? And it was when I was simply telling the person the incredible joy I felt about Easter time. Well naturally, I wanted to defend not only my faith, but I sure felt attacked as a professional much less a Christian. And yet as I continued to think about all of this in the space of a few seconds, my love for my family member prevailed. I listened, and I said, well, you’re entitled to that thought, even though in my mind I’m thinking, are you crazy?
Friends, we never know where we’re going to be tested because of our faith. And it might not even be so much a question of following Christ. There are all sorts of people who don’t have a conscience, and therefore are going to assume everyone else around them doesn’t. There’s going to be people who make decisions based on simply how it feels, no matter what our understanding of scripture says or doesn’t say.
I love our verse today because it hits us as Christian’s right in the heart. No matter what’s happening around us or how we’re treated, we must be a blessing to everyone, everywhere, always, no exception or condition. And while I don’t like that, it’s so much easier to do that isn’t it? We can be kind, even if we don’t feel too kind to someone. We can put on a happy face, even if inside we’re cringing.
But here’s the trickier part, the reason it’s not always easy is because of how we view someone or think of them. We are to treat others well because Christ treats us far better than we deserve. Because it’s so easy for us to run away or treat him horribly. It’s so easy for us to say, Christ, I’ll get back to serving you later, just let me be bad this once.
Nope, no grudge, or guilt needs to be there. Why? Because Christ has taken that choice away from us. He’s born all of it on the cross. People have betrayed him, insulted him, cursed him, and scorned him. Why should we expect any different as Christ followers ourselves? Yes, some may see being a Christian as a “pie in the sky” view, but let’s know in our heart, our pie indeed is, well, in the sky. We’ll be taken care of and have all the delicious desserts we need eternally in Christ if we’re willing to deal with a little harshness now.
This week, my prayer is we would be able to thank God for allowing us to bless someone who’s tough for us to deal with. Let’s allow ourselves to be blessed by even people we might see every day whom we just don’t think we’ll ever get along with or understand. What if we were even a blessing to ourselves, in allowing our hearts to be open and not judgmental to seeing those people not as people to have to deal with, but as blessings from God to be with? Really tough in the short-term, but in the long run really rewarding, a beautiful and blessed inheritance indeed!
To God be the glory
Pastor Brandon
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Morning Worship at 10:15 am
Enjoy the feeling of home and family join us, with Pastor Brandon,
All are Welcome.