Day 160: How Do You Respond?

I must admit that our generation is very hot-headed. We have no problem defending ourselves, and others, we also don’t mind speaking up when we don’t like something. This is both a blessing and a curse, we won’t let our voice be silenced but sometimes the best way to fight back is through silence. Our response and reaction to things is very important. We must learn self-control and how to turn the other cheek when we want to respond out of anger or animosity, or even spite.

Matthew  5:38-40

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.

Before moving forward allow me to break the above scripture down. If you’re like me you’ve always had a bit of confusion about this scripture, and if I’m being honest, a hard time obeying it. Am I really supposed to let someone slap me?” “So if someone slaps me once, I have to turn my cheek and let them do it again? Seriously?” These are the questions I asked, when trying to understand this scripture. I wasn’t looking at it from a spiritual or metaphorical standpoint, I was look at it from a natural standpoint. All I knew is, if someone slapped me they had better been prepared to get slapped back. But as I began to read more and get an understanding of the scripture I realized, that same attitude is what the scripture is speaking against. We don’t always have to do to people what they do to us. We don’t always have to get revenge on someone. The next paragraph is a bit lengthy but bare with me, I need you to understand this. Here’s an explanation of the scripture from Watchtower online library, The Bible’s Viewpoint,

“It is noteworthy that in harmony with God’s Law, the “eye for eye” retribution mentioned in those scriptures was properly administered only after an offender had stood trial before the priests and judges who weighed the circumstances and the degree of deliberateness of the offense.—Deuteronomy 19:15-21.

In time the Jews distorted the application of this law. A 19th-century commentary on the Bible by Adam Clarke states: “It seems that the Jews had made this law [eye for eye, tooth for tooth] a ground for authorising private resentments, and all the excesses committed by a vindictive spirit. Revenge was often carried to the utmost extremity, and more evil returned than what had been received.” The Scriptures, however, did not authorize personal vendettas.

Jesus’ teaching in his Sermon on the Mount regarding ‘turning the other cheek’ reflects the true spirit of God’s Law to Israel. Jesus did not mean that if his followers are struck on one side of the face, they should stagger to their feet and offer the other side as a target. In Bible times, as is often true today, a slap was not intended to injure physically but was an insult intended to provoke a reaction, a confrontation.

Evidently, then, Jesus meant that if one person tried to goad another into a confrontation with a literal slap—or with stinging sarcasm—the person slapped should avoid retaliating. Instead, he should attempt to avoid what could become a vicious circle of rendering evil for evil.”

Ephesians 4:26

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Proverbs 15:1

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

1 Peter 2:23

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

Proverbs 16:32

Better a patient person than a warrior,

one with self-control than one who takes a city.

James 1:19

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

2 Timothy 1:17

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Today we are going to talk about how to respond with respect and gratitude even when we get the opposite. As I stated above, our generation is a bit hot-headed, we do not like the idea of being disrespected and we are very blunt and upfront about our feelings. A few things we must learn to do is: walk away, be slow to anger, and bite that tongue.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, most people who really know me know that I am very sarcastic and I can have a very smart mouth. I’m not one to get angry really quickly, though i used to have a really short temper, but I do have a few triggers that will send me from 0-100 in a matter of seconds. I had to learn to kill my pride and shut my mouth. I had to learn that a soft answer really does turn away wrath. Even when my blood is boiling on the inside of me, I’ve learned to just smile and walk away. I cannot lie and tell you that it’s easy, I still find myself wanting to give a few people what I think they deserve sometimes, but at the end of the day, it’s not worth it.

I know I said previously that silence is sometimes the best answer, but it is so hard to stay silent. Especially in today’s society where it seems like the word respect in part of a lost language. It is so hard to think about Jesus and pray when person number one is in the corner testing you. It’s hard to turn the other cheek when you turned as many times as you could, and you’ve finally had enough. It’s hard to give a soft answer sometimes. It’s hard biting your tongue, some of us bite our tongues until they bleed. Sometimes you just have to respond, sometimes you just have to retaliate. Sometimes you just have to go off on that person. Sometimes you need to blow up and go crazy, and use the excuse that Jesus overturned tables in the temple. Sometimes you just have to do it. Sometimes it’s necessary to just, go there!...

...But do we really have to? That’s the question, is it necessary? Do we have to get out of character and do something that we will end up having to repent for later. Is the moment of pleasure really worth it? The scripture teaching us to be patient, it teaches us self-control, it teaches us to give a soft answer, don’t be so quick to get angry. We don’t always have to respond, we don’t always have to have an answer. Trust me I know it’s tempting, but we cannot fight fire with fire, we cannot fight hate with hate, but we can fight it love. We can fight it with a soft answer. We can choose to turn the other cheek and not retaliate. As christ followers we are called to live like Christ. Jesus received the ultimate amount of disrespect, he was spit on, slapped, punched, betrayed, by one of his own, mocked, pushed down, beat, accused, slandered, everything. Jesus took it, He chose to forgive them, even while they were hanging Him on a cross. He chose to die for the very people that killed Him. He always responded with love, even when He received hate. Jesus is a prime example of how we are to live and how we are to respond to others.

We must learn to control ourselves and our tongue. We do not always have to be right and we do not always have to have the last word. This does not mean that we let people walk all over us and not defend ourselves. What this means is, we have to learn to respond the way Jesus would. Sometimes our soft response can do more than a haughty one. Don’t get out of character or allow yourself to get angry to the point of sin. There is nothing wrong with being angry, it’s a human emotion we can’t avoid it but we can avoid acting on and holding on to it. I know it’s hard and we’re only human, but so was Jesus.  

Response/Prayer Time

Review the scriptures we went over today, think about how you respond to certain people and certain things, it is good or bad? Whatever the answer is, talk to God about it. Have a conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 161!

Day 149: What Went Down This Week

Now, Sundays are usually our recap days where we talk about what happened this week. We do a little recap in case you missed it or want to go over it again. But today things are going to be a bit different, we're actually not going to recap at all. This week was eye opening for me, I'm not sure if it was for anyone else but I can only speak for myself when I say, sometimes I can get so caught up in this life and what's going on and how hard things are that I forget to see the beauty in it. I have learned to look on the brighter side of things. I've learned to simply enjoy life, not worrying about things that I cannot change or fix. I've learned that as much as God wants us to live a life free of sin and bondage, He also wants us to enjoy every moment of it. So today, take the time to go back and reread whichever devo stood out or spoke to you the most, and then do something today that makes you happy. Whatever it is, if you want to go for a hike do it, have a jam session do it. Just enjoy your day, and be sure to come back tomorrow for day 150! I love you!

Day 147: Misconceptions (Part 5)- Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously

Micah 6:8

But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously - take God seriously.

Hillsong United recently released a song called ‘Wonder” and when Joel Houston was speaking about writing the song, he said,

“Everyone’s so serious all the time, and the paradox of that is, we have the most serious message there is.”

Have you ever met people who take themselves too seriously, or need to lighten up a bit? I go to an art school, and with the political climate the way it is, it gets very interesting in those hallways and classes. We are artist so we are already a bunch of emotional and passionate people. People can become so uptight about what to say and what not to say or do. I almost feel like I cannot say anything without having someone come at me with political correctness. This idea of always being politically correct and taking ourselves too seriously has taken away comedy, it has taken away joy and replaced it with fear. The fear of offending someone for stating what we believe. It has created this wave of sugar coating due to hypersensitivity.  It has taken humility to arrogance and people who take themselves too seriously think so highly of themselves above others.

We are probably all shaking our heads thinking of someone we know who is like this. Take the time to make sure it’s not you.

I remember when I first became a Christian I took myself soooooooo serious, and anyone who knows me knows that I am a goofy person. I’m like a little kid, I love to make people smile and laugh, I love playing pranks on my friends and family. I was never a serious person all around, I always knew when to turn it on and off. When I became a Christian, for a while that all stopped because I had to take myself serious. I could not be joking around and looking like a sinner. I’m a Christian I have to act as such. I have to grow in my faith there are not time for games and laughing, this is serious. It didn’t make me a better Christian, it just made me a jerk.

-Dyamond

This is the idea that many people have about Christians, we are a serious group of people. We can take ourselves too seriously as we push our faith and want to be known as me and women of God. But the scripture above states, “Don’t take yourself too seriously, take God seriously.”, and that’s what we often miss. We are so busy taking ourselves seriously and trying to prove our Christianity that we forget, it is not about us. It is about God, He is to be taken seriously, His word is to be taken seriously, who are we?

Even Jesus had a sense of humor and didn’t take himself too serious.

In the article, ‘Reclaiming Jesus’ Sense of Humor’, James Martin states:

“For someone in first-century Palestine, the premise (or “setup” as a comic would say) was probably more amusing than the punch line. "The parables were amusing in their exaggeration or hyperbole," Amy-Jill Levine, a New Testament scholar at Vanderbilt University, said in an interview. “The idea that a mustard seed would have sprouted into a big bush that birds would build their nests in would be humorous. People in Jesus’ day would probably have laughed at many of his intentionally funny illustrations: for example, the idea that someone would have lit a lamp and put it under a basket, or that a person would have built a house on sand or that a father would give a child stones instead of bread.”

One of my favorite things about the contemporary church, and it’s pastor’s from Judah Smith, to Carl Lentz, Rich Wilkerson Jr., Robert Madu, Chad Veach, John Gray, Matthew edgar, Ben Houston, Chelsea Smith, Lucille Houston,and so many more is their sense of humor. These are men and women of God who take the word of God so seriously but do not think of themselves as serious as the message of Christ. They tell stories that are often funny that engage us, make us laugh, and get the message across simultaneously. These men and women will make us laugh and also preach a message that will change our lives at the same time. They know that while God has given us the most serious message ever, He also gave us a sense of humor and He has one as well. Everything isn’t all serious all the time. There does not have to be a disconnect. Humor is a part of who we are as humans.

When we take ourselves too seriously we create a disconnect from humanity. We create a divide that separates us from them. We have to lighten up and regain our sense of humor. Sit down our pride and ideas of who we think we are.

Don’t take yourself too seriously it’s not a good look. Plus there’s way too much tension built up in people who take themselves seriously,  Tension and stress cause wrinkles, weight gain, and early aging and I know you don’t want that. At least not yet, let them come when it’s time not a second before. Relax, get you chakras in line and be goofy.

Reflection/Response

1. Are you a person who takes yourself too seriously?
2. How can you change that?
3. Do you take God more serious than you take yourself?

Prayer Time

Allow you answers to the above questions guide your prayer, talk to God about whatever you discovered about yourself today, and remember that God has a sense of humor too.