Post by SaRaHJaNe on Aug 9, 2009 1:17:21 GMT
Jesus loved people. "In every gentle and submissive way, "Ellen White says, "Jesus tried to please those with whom He came in contact." But he didn't try to please in every way. He wouldn't go with hem into evil, because He always had His eye on their eternity.
He learned "the hard lesson of silence and patient endurance." Persecutors are ugly, but Christianity loses when a christian turns ugly in response. "Love your enemies," Jesus said later, in Matthew 5. "Do good to those who hate you."
When you refuse to fight with the weapons of your attackers, it seems like shameful defeat to the onlooking world. But the onlooking Christ wipes a tear-trickle from the corner of His eyes and smiles in triumph.
He prayed for His persecutors. "Pray for those who persecute you," He commands in Matthew 5. He practiced what He preached. "Father forgive them," He gasped between spasms of crucifixion pain (Luke 23:34). And His followers, like Stephen, took up the cry. "Lord" the deacon cried in Acts 7:60, as football-size stones slammed into his body, "do not hold this sin against them."
He learned "the hard lesson of silence and patient endurance." Persecutors are ugly, but Christianity loses when a christian turns ugly in response. "Love your enemies," Jesus said later, in Matthew 5. "Do good to those who hate you."
When you refuse to fight with the weapons of your attackers, it seems like shameful defeat to the onlooking world. But the onlooking Christ wipes a tear-trickle from the corner of His eyes and smiles in triumph.
He prayed for His persecutors. "Pray for those who persecute you," He commands in Matthew 5. He practiced what He preached. "Father forgive them," He gasped between spasms of crucifixion pain (Luke 23:34). And His followers, like Stephen, took up the cry. "Lord" the deacon cried in Acts 7:60, as football-size stones slammed into his body, "do not hold this sin against them."
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