A Tested Love

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16

I confess to you that I have harbored angry thoughts over an irritant in my work. This irritant is a man and he has an irritating way that many have come to recognize and toss out of their workplaces, no doubt to their great relief. Part of my irritation comes from frustration over what I see as unbelief in Jesus and the necessity of salvation. Hold that man's spiritual toes to the fire and he will deflect into a lengthy rambling story about himself. He is also a scoffer, saying things like, "Isn't Jesus supposed to come back and fix everything up right?" As though the current world situation is the Lord's fault. I could weary your reading with much more, but just know that this man acts quite like the Judeans from our Lord's time who knew about God but believed in their own righteousness and refused to believe in the Messiah as He stood right in front of them.

What hurts more about this is that Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is not irritable or resentful, and as I have struggled to love this man, I have been both too many times. So, yes I am looking to you for prayers and solutions as I confess that I am too weak in this thing. May the Lord Jesus guide us all in this matter of tested love... and some days I think it is a severe test indeed!

Love in Christ,

Bucky