ExodusPodcasts.com

Questions about Prayer – Part 3 can be downloaded here.

Questions about Prayer – Part 2 can be downloaded here.

Questions about Prayer – Part 1 can be downloaded here.

A few weeks ago during our Wednesday night series on Lamentations, the concept of cursing our enemies during prayer came up.  It seemed as if there are multiple places in the Bible where people call on God to be wrathful towards the speaker’s enemies.  This creates a potential problem with other teachings of the Bible to love our enemies.  As I was recently encouraged to investigate this more, I came across one persepctive that I wanted to see other people’s opinions of.   God has the right to curse people and be vengeful towards them because he is God.  We, on the other hand, do not have that right.  The potential way to merge these ideas is that the speaker is actually speaking a curse from God.  I thought this idea was interesting, but I am not sure how justified it is.  Share your thoughts.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  –Plato

It’s always been difficult for me not to get impatient with others; to remember the humanity and the struggles that bind us all together. It’s much easier to think that I’m special–more skilled, smarter, a better driver–and that this entitles me to treat others as if they are at best just obstacles for me to swerve around as I go about my life’s tasks. But what if instead my life’s tasks are nothing more than to stop, look into the eyes of the hurting, and listen to the lonely? What better mission is there than to genuinely care for another?

A wise teacher of mine once said: “You know, Jill, at all times everyone is doing the very best they are capable of.” I believe that now…do you? How easy is it to become frustrated with people who make poor decision after poor decision; how simple is it to condemn friends and family who don’t make the changes we feel they should make? I’ve found that if I take the time to really look at someone and realize their pain, it’s clear that they’re doing the best they can. The judgment doesn’t come so easily, then.

I’m struck by the perspective shift that occurs when I stop thinking of others as so different from me, and start realizing that we’re all just cells in a universal body. All of us are human, we all need Christ, we mess up and need to brush ourselves off, we need grace from each other.

My challenge to you this week is this: find a way–maybe just a small way–to show someone true compassion. Listen deeply, care genuinely, and smile at someone who doesn’t expect it. Life is tough, and we’re all in this together.

Biblical Justice – Part 3 (Distributive Justice)
can be downloaded here.

Biblical Justice – Part 2 (Commutative & Procedural Justice)
can be downloaded here.

Biblical Justice – Part 1 (The Image of God)
can be downloaded here.

Spiritual Disciplines – Part 8 (Service)
can be downloaded here.

Spiritual Disciplines – Part 7 (Study, Submission, and Guidance)
can be downloaded here.