Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Some people are not easy to love, but we're told to love our enemies (Luke 6:35). How can we love someone who is ornery, difficult, sandpapery--unpleasant to be around?
Maybe a better way to ask the question is, How can we learn to LIKE such a person? Or does God expect us to?
It's not make-believe we want; this is no job for a movie actor. We don't want empty pretense, just acting nice and proper to someone's face when deep in your gut you detest him isn't being like Jesus.
A good example to think about is Mary Magdalene--possessed by "seven devils" (Mark 16:9). A woman so "possessed" could be more ornery than a man so possessed. In her case we know that Jesus reasoned from cause to effect; He understood why she was so horrible. He understood the secret irritant that she had experienced. Therefore He knew that her being mean and bitter was not what she really wanted to be deep down. In fact, she had lost control and was actually saying and doing things that she herself detested. That's what it means to be "possessed." The devil--no, seven devils--had made her a captive.
You probably would have a hard time finding anyone more difficult to be near than Mary Magdalene. When Jesus met her, He understood that someone had treated her very unfairly, had driven her to desperation, had overwhelmed her with a temptation to be resentful that she could not handle. Jesus actually put Himself in her place (that's what He has done for each of us). In fact, when He had been baptized by John the Baptist He had truly taken our guilt upon Himself, took the experience of repentance in our behalf. In this simple process of becoming one of us, Jesus found the key to unlock Mary's prison door. And in so doing He transformed her into a lovable person!
Maybe that's a key that you and I need to discover.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 24, 2003.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Some people are not easy to love, but we're told to love our enemies (Luke 6:35). How can we love someone who is ornery, difficult, sandpapery--unpleasant to be around?
Maybe a better way to ask the question is, How can we learn to LIKE such a person? Or does God expect us to?
It's not make-believe we want; this is no job for a movie actor. We don't want empty pretense, just acting nice and proper to someone's face when deep in your gut you detest him isn't being like Jesus.
A good example to think about is Mary Magdalene--possessed by "seven devils" (Mark 16:9). A woman so "possessed" could be more ornery than a man so possessed. In her case we know that Jesus reasoned from cause to effect; He understood why she was so horrible. He understood the secret irritant that she had experienced. Therefore He knew that her being mean and bitter was not what she really wanted to be deep down. In fact, she had lost control and was actually saying and doing things that she herself detested. That's what it means to be "possessed." The devil--no, seven devils--had made her a captive.
You probably would have a hard time finding anyone more difficult to be near than Mary Magdalene. When Jesus met her, He understood that someone had treated her very unfairly, had driven her to desperation, had overwhelmed her with a temptation to be resentful that she could not handle. Jesus actually put Himself in her place (that's what He has done for each of us). In fact, when He had been baptized by John the Baptist He had truly taken our guilt upon Himself, took the experience of repentance in our behalf. In this simple process of becoming one of us, Jesus found the key to unlock Mary's prison door. And in so doing He transformed her into a lovable person!
Maybe that's a key that you and I need to discover.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 24, 2003.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
