I would hope every answers “No” to
the above question. However, if you read on
and decide that at times you might be doing
that, then give thanks to God for
showing you and me a behavior He wants us to
work on and change. As Christians, it
is important we understand God’s
Concepts, which at times it seems almost
impossible to do, in Today’s Society.
And I regret that the general field of
counseling has contributed to causing some of
this confusion.
You
see, the counseling field centers on “
Me” – how I feel, what I am
“entitled to” and my comfort level.
Once I became an adult, I embraced this
concept whole heartedly because I was
raised to please everyone else and basically
taught to ignore, or even have emotional
needs. There were times when I felt I was
“nothing” or “a mass”
which had to shape in conformance to the
ideas of others.
Neither
of these concepts are God’s Way. God
created us for a relationship with Him. He is
Goodness, Righteousness and Love. He
has given us a respectable
position–life. ( Isa 43:7, Eph 2:10
& Eph 1:4). We, out of gratitude,
give Him, praise, honor, thanksgiving,
respect and obedience. God only asks that we
treat Him with respect and ALL people in this
world, respectfully.( Matt 22:37,38 &39,
Mark 12:29,30 & 31 & John 13:34).
Giving
respect to others, does not mean being a
servant to them. If the person has a position
of authority, We must honor that
position (Heb 13:17 ) and obey the laws
of the land, always remembering that our
first allegiance is to God. Therefore, should
a secular law ever require me to do something
against God’s Word, I could not
obey it ( such as in Germany in the late
1930's).
Let’s
look at another example. Suppose a friend
invites you to the movies to see a special
showing. Before the showing, it receives many
positive reviews ,however, it is mentioned
there is one questionable scene. You pray
about it and decide, you must not see the
movie as a protest against movie makers
putting hot scenes in an excellent film to
bring in more business. Your friend feels
hurt, taking it personally, believing that
you really just don’t want to go with
her because she doesn’t see anything
wrong with the movie.
Hurt
feelings. Rejection. Contention. Strife. How
is this to be resolved? Both believe they are
doing the right thing. Has something similar
happened to you? Did you feel hurt? Did you
hold on to the hurt? What did you do?
What did God want you to do?
Now, some of
you may say, but what about those people who
deliberately do something to hurt me? Again,
we do not have to agree with their behavior
but if they chose for some reason to do what
they do, turn it over to God to work it
out and forgive. If it seems to happen
ALL the time i.e. someone deliberately, doing
things to hurt you, then you need to question
why are you staying in this type of
friendship.
But
if it is a matter of differences, then
embrace the differences, be thankful they are
you friend and love them for being themself.
So we need to ask ourselves, “ do I
often get hurt feelings?” If so,
remember, hurt feelings open the door to
contention and strife. Both which are
contrary to God’s Will and living
a truly “Christian life”.We all
need to work at casting off “ hurt”
feelings, with the aid of the Holy Spirit.
Written by Janet L. Walker 9-7-05
