Chronicles of Love, Part IX

"...LOVE DOES NOT DELIGHT IN EVIL,
BUT REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH"

Christians are full of themselves, all too often.  I'm not afraid to say that, because I can site you examples of all the times JUST TODAY that I made assumptions, over-vested in my own opinions, looked down my nose at someone I didn't know, and pitted my faith as the principle separating factor between myself and someone who did not behave as I thought they should.  Truth is, the remaining words of this article will make little sense to you unless you are able to see those same types of faults in yourself right now.

Perhaps it was the "crazy" driver we yell at (who may very well be a child of the King), or perhaps it was the lazy waiter (who might just walk through heaven's gate WITH us), or perhaps the snobby co-worker (who just so happens to be a devout, yet misdirected believer).  Truth is, for whatever reason that brother or sister in Christ chooses not to behave as we think they should, we are still responsible to treat them with the Love of Christ.

"Love does not delight in evil..."

Unfortunately, we never get a chance to learn about the faith of our fellow brothers & sisters, when we wait for something vindictive to just "happen," which we believe they are deserving of.   The "crazy" driver runs into a telephone pole, the lazy waiter gets a reprimand from the manager, or the snobby co-worker's Chinese food has a hair in it...and what do we say?  "Serves 'em right...they shouldn't have been acting the way they did."  It's amusing to me how we, as Christians, can sometimes think ourselves more righteous, and hence, more deserving of blessing or good fortune.

We often don't have anything to rejoice with one another about, because we're too busy being full of ourselves.  You know, come to think of it, I really don't deserve any one, single blessing which God reigns down on me daily.  But I wonder:  if I kept a list of those blessings in the front of my mind through every encounter I have throughout my day, would I be less prone to find any joy in others' misfortune, and more anxious to find a truth worth rejoicing in together with them?  What about you?