What Other People Say.
For Reading and meditation - Luke 6: 20 - 26
“She said what!”
The words that people speak about us can often hurt us more than if they had pierced our hearts with a spear. But why?
There is a very real state that the fallen world is in, and it is insecurity. On a personal level, national level, and international level, people feel insecure.
Yet the real root of this insecurity is separation from God. Once we have been born-again, we have the potential of realising the “new creation” and a constant relationship with our heavenly Father.
Sin will seriously hinder this, and although “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ”, sin will act as a block in the experience of fellowship.
In Luke 6: 20-26, Jesus says that we are blessed when men revile us. This blessing can be experienced, but only if we remain close to our Lord.
The insecurity we feel can only be overcome by one way: a definite and deep assurance of God’s acceptance of us, and His Almighty Power to keep us.
In Acts 5: 22- 42, the apostles were severely mistreated, yet they knew their Lord, obeyed their Lord and were able to rejoice at suffering shame for the sake of the Name of Jesus. They chose to please God, and not attempt to win friends in the chief priests’ court.
Some people will always speak ill of us. Solomon advises us not to pay too close attention to what others may say in our absence. Yet we need not try to defend ourselves or plead our cause. Christ is our defence, and Christ is our cause. God, not us, will see that justice is done.
A deep trust in God’s acceptance of us, whatever may befall, can give us the strength and courage to take others’ comments about us, whether positive or negative, with grace and humility.
