I found this funny? Anybody else?
Do you ever find yourself in a situation or moment where you think, “I can’t believe this happening to me?” I find myself in these situations a lot. I have grown to love them. Whenever these strange things happen I always think that God must have a sense of humor. More importantly, I believe it is God giving me opportunities to respond to whatever the situation is, in a loving way. Just the way he would respond. I had an encounter like this recently, out of nowhere, when I was least expecting it.
Sadly I did not respond in love.
I have regretted this since the incident occurred two weeks ago.
Like most women, I have not always made the best choices when it comes to dating. In the past, I have chosen guys who do not hold the same values or morals as I do. These types of unequally yoked relationships have led to emotional and spiritual damage. (2 Corinthians 6:14). For the longest time, I cultivated feelings of hate and disgust for any guy resembling my ex-boyfriends. I would be rude or snub them or you feel in the blank _________ to most guys. I did not see any error in the way I was treating them. I was bitter and hurt, and thought I had earned the right to cut off “those types of guys.”
I was wrong.
But this blog entry isn’t about being equally yoked or how to heal from emotional damage; this blog is about responding to others in love, and when I say others, I mean EVERYONE.
Now to the incident…
I was in the gym two weeks ago, with one of my youth coincidentally, when “HE” approached me. He was clothed in under armour, sporting a six pack, and had been yelling at the other guys he was working out with to “GO HARDER!!” He would have been my dream guy in high school. Funny how we change, huh?
So, my youth and I are minding our own business, doing some squats, when Mr. Under Armour made his approach.
Mr. Under Armour simply came over and said, “you know you should do your squats this way, it’s easier on the back. Trust me. I’m a trainer.”
I should have smiled and said, “thank you, I’ll try it.” But I got mad. I looked at him lividly first and ignored what he said. I turned the other way, and resumed what I was doing. The rest of the day I was angry, and the worst part is my youth witnessed my reaction. I didn’t even know this guy. In his mind he was just trying to help me, but in my mind he was just like this guy who hurt me way back when. In that moment, I failed to respond the way Jesus would. I chose to serve anger, not God. I missed an opportunity to see beyond the surface and into the heart of someone.
Mr. Under Armour was knit together in his mother’s womb by the hands of the almighty. (Psalm 139:13)
Mr. Under Armour is special, beautiful in the eyes of the creator.
I wish I could go back and respond to him differently.
Constantly in the bible we are told to love. Love the Lord your God, your neighbor, your enemies, your wife. WE ARE TO LOVE. This is clear in scripture. Loving others is not an option, even those who stir up bad memories and emotions; or those who annoy us, or ask a lot of questions, or those who believe differently than we do, or those who boss us around, or break our hearts, or push down on the playground. You get the idea.
We are to love them, even at the expense of our comfort or pride. Don’t miss opportunities to respond lovingly to those around you whom God created passionately, lovingly.
AWAKE STUDENTS:
Are you responding to others in love?
Matthew 5:44/ Matthew 19:19/ Proverbs 15:1
Love you guys.
