March 3, 2007

Good morning, I do think there is a bit less wind today. Have you ever noticed the many personalities, quirks, and habits around you at work? Is it our job to fix them? Now if we speak of a problem and that person both needs and asks for help, then yes, help out as best you can and pray earnestly for that person. However, in the case of the many individual traits we see, some that irritate us and some that do not, we should love that person and accept them just as Jesus does. Loving a person will cure the irritation that comes to us naturally when faced with some habit or trait that bothers us. No doubt there are things about me or you that would bother someone else, even a brother or sister in Christ. We all know that special someone that just makes our hair stand on end when they do this or that which bothers us. In my case, the remaining hairs stand on end. Perhaps you are not too attached to your money, but they count every penny twice to the point of pulling out a pocket calculator to figure the 15% tip at a restaurant and shaving off the fraction to their benefit. I know some of you are asking, “Yeah, what’s the problem with that?” Many things such as this are neither right nor wrong, but could be an irritation to another person. Love conquers these feelings of irritation, leaving us free to live together in Christ. There may be someone whom you simply cannot stand to be around, at least not until the Holy Spirit has a chance to work a change in your heart. Stay away from them for the time being if possible and pray for healing in your own heart.
In the world, we would wish for that other person to change, but in Jesus we pray for our own healing. Jesus avoided no one, no matter how sick, insane, demon-possessed, haughty, or proud that person was at the time of their meeting our Lord. The same holds true in this day, Jesus accepts all who come to Him and as we know, he finds us first whether we realize it or not. I am quite sure that if all of my bad qualities or habits were listed and it was left up to a jury of my fellow humans to decide whether Christ should accept me or not, there would be some who would vote against my inclusion in the body of Christ. Praise the Lord it is not up to us to decide who Jesus will accept and we should not try to judge in that respect. Let the Holy Spirit teach you to love everyone. This does not come to us easily; we need the strength of God to learn how to love everyone.

Bucky