Defenseless
I have been hurt in the past. I have put my faith in a person only to be devastatingly hurt by them. I have seen my children uprooted, losing friends and the their stability in life because of the hurtful choices of people who held the care of my family in their hands; and for reasons that cannot stand up under scrutiny. I have been wronged. I have had lies and half-truths told about me to protect the tellers from the consequences of their actions. I have been hurt badly…and so have you. We all have. Every single one of us can point to scars on our hearts that have been knit together over the wounds caused by people in our lives in whom we placed our trust.
In many ways those hurts can define us. They can lift us to greater success by driving us to overcome or can grind us into a life of unending bitterness and mistrust. We can push them away as if they never happened or call them fresh to our mind every day, as new now as the moment they first happened. For good or bad, our hurts have the power to change us and those around us by how we respond to them.
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Luke 6:27-36
In one teaching Jesus shows us two things. First, people will hurt us. It’s going to happen. It’s not a matter of if, but when. This is a non-negotiable principle of life that Jesus is acknowledging, but he also shows us how to deal with those hurts: offer the other cheek also. In a crazy twist on the human sense of justice, Jesus doesn’t tell us that we should get payback any way we can. He tells us to double down and make ourselves even more vulnerable. Why would he do that? What do we gain by being walking punching bags?
First, we have to always remember that people are not our enemies. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says that, “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.” If we allow our hurts to make other people our enemies, we are missing the mission and the heartbeat of God. We don’t use our weapons for revenge, but to wipe out everything that would keep the people who hurt us from God. Isn’t that what Jesus did? Even as he was being beaten, whipped, humiliated and killed by mankind he was fighting back. He wasn’t throwing punches at his aggressors, the people who were causing him pain, but at the sin that was keeping them from knowing God’s love. He was fighting for us even as we were fighting against him. And that’s how he expects us to live.
The beauty of it all is that when we live defenselessly, we are the ones who are blessed. Our vulnerability becomes our very strength and God will use it to begin knitting together the strongest relationships we could ever know, relationships that model Jesus’ relationship with us; the kind where we are submitted to the needs of others first. If you are a person who has carried the massive weight of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness for a long time then you know how wounded your relationships with others are. I know the fear of putting your trust in another person again. I know what it's like to still feel the sting of the last slap to your face. But when you make yourself defenseless, God becomes your defender. You are not putting your faith in the person who let you down, but in the God who guarantees that a defenseless life is a good life.
Each of us has been hurt by someone, whether great or small. Will those hurts seep deep into your heart, poisoning your ability to trust others and know real community? Or will those hurts cause you to lay down your armor like Jesus did, making yourself defenseless to those who are not really your true enemies anyway? God is calling us to live a life that is defenseless, in the only way that true unity and community can grow. It’s his plan of mutual submission. Are you willing to turn and offer your other cheek to the person who just slapped you, knowing that it could lead to the truest community, deepest relationships and greatest freedom you have ever known? I am.
In many ways those hurts can define us. They can lift us to greater success by driving us to overcome or can grind us into a life of unending bitterness and mistrust. We can push them away as if they never happened or call them fresh to our mind every day, as new now as the moment they first happened. For good or bad, our hurts have the power to change us and those around us by how we respond to them.
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Luke 6:27-36
In one teaching Jesus shows us two things. First, people will hurt us. It’s going to happen. It’s not a matter of if, but when. This is a non-negotiable principle of life that Jesus is acknowledging, but he also shows us how to deal with those hurts: offer the other cheek also. In a crazy twist on the human sense of justice, Jesus doesn’t tell us that we should get payback any way we can. He tells us to double down and make ourselves even more vulnerable. Why would he do that? What do we gain by being walking punching bags?
First, we have to always remember that people are not our enemies. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says that, “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.” If we allow our hurts to make other people our enemies, we are missing the mission and the heartbeat of God. We don’t use our weapons for revenge, but to wipe out everything that would keep the people who hurt us from God. Isn’t that what Jesus did? Even as he was being beaten, whipped, humiliated and killed by mankind he was fighting back. He wasn’t throwing punches at his aggressors, the people who were causing him pain, but at the sin that was keeping them from knowing God’s love. He was fighting for us even as we were fighting against him. And that’s how he expects us to live.
The beauty of it all is that when we live defenselessly, we are the ones who are blessed. Our vulnerability becomes our very strength and God will use it to begin knitting together the strongest relationships we could ever know, relationships that model Jesus’ relationship with us; the kind where we are submitted to the needs of others first. If you are a person who has carried the massive weight of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness for a long time then you know how wounded your relationships with others are. I know the fear of putting your trust in another person again. I know what it's like to still feel the sting of the last slap to your face. But when you make yourself defenseless, God becomes your defender. You are not putting your faith in the person who let you down, but in the God who guarantees that a defenseless life is a good life.
Each of us has been hurt by someone, whether great or small. Will those hurts seep deep into your heart, poisoning your ability to trust others and know real community? Or will those hurts cause you to lay down your armor like Jesus did, making yourself defenseless to those who are not really your true enemies anyway? God is calling us to live a life that is defenseless, in the only way that true unity and community can grow. It’s his plan of mutual submission. Are you willing to turn and offer your other cheek to the person who just slapped you, knowing that it could lead to the truest community, deepest relationships and greatest freedom you have ever known? I am.
posted by Chris at
2:41 PM
1 Comments:
Amen. To love others as you love yourself. Or more to say as God loves and treats his children. Its not easy to love, care, hope and pray for those who've wronged you...but its more than worth it because God sees and he will reward, and take us, you, whoever is searching, living, loving him and his ways to a better place in the spiritual, natural and physical. God Bless your Heart Chris, for God is your reward.
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