From Denyse:
Recently, I found myself absolutely hurt and frankly, angry when I was informed that someone had tried to stab me in the back and basically tried to throw me under the bus, when they were called on behavior that was incorrect. I found myself struggling with wanting to just spout off at the mouth and let the hurt take over. The Holy Spirit really had to retrain and restrain me during this time and I wrestled with having to defend myself even though I didn’t need to and even though the powers that be saw through the whole behavior.
Once I cooled off and started talking to God about it, praying and rationally thinking, I realized that this had actually been a lesson (a bit bitter at the time) that helped me learn about a valuable instrument: discernment. I need God to show me what I can’t see.
We can’t always take what is presented to us at face value. We need to look beyond appearances and perceived behavior and sometime see the heart of the matter. Not suspicious but wise, wise about who we trust, wise about who we hang out with, wise about how we speak and whom we speak to regarding different things. We must always love and be quick to forgive but we must discern who is there to make us grow and nurture us and who is there for their own gain.
Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 says, “Wisdom, like an inheritance is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.”
During this time, it just so happened I was also reading the book RePresent Jesus and got to chapter 8, “Jesus and relationships”. I have printed out a few excerpts of this book for you.
Jesus was a master of relationships, he talked to everyone loved everyone, and had compassion for everyone (even those who constantly antagonized him). However, he understood that he could not allow everyone in is his inner circle and was very wise about what he shared with them, and who and how much he should open up during his interactions with others. In the age of social media, we forget that we need to be selective of what we share and we need to let our mind (God given discernment) guide us and not just our emotions and our heart…
We must learn discernment in relationships, to see who we are in Christ and let us be guided by His wisdom and trust Him when there are warning about a person’s behavior and ulterior motives that are not been shown face to face. Sometimes people are hurt and don’t know how to act any other way but by hurting others; remember to not become bitter when others don’t necessarily act in a Godly way.
Assignment:
Read the excerpt from Represent Jesus and write down points that can help us in relationships.
Read John 13:2-30.
What do you think Jesus’s feelings were toward Judas in that moment?
Can you find other examples of people that were difficult that Jesus dealt with?
Can you see his compassion towards them even though they were difficult?