Blessed in the One Who …
1 Peter 2:1 So then, stop doing anything to hurt others. Don’t lie anymore, and stop trying to fool people. Don’t be jealous or say bad things about others.
How we see other people has a lot to do with how we treat them. And how we perceive them isn’t always that healthy. So when was the last time you took stock of the lens through which you see them?
There are all sorts of negative perceptions that cloud our judgement when it comes to our relationships. Envy is one of them. Blind loyalty is another, as is our desire to be well thought of, or the desire to get our own way. How much do those “lenses”, if I can call them that, distort your view of people? And how much do they lead to bad behaviour – to lashing out and hurting people, to dishonesty, to jealousy, to gossip?
Can I encourage you to think back to the last time you thought of someone or treated someone badly … to the point where you truly regret your behaviour toward them? Now ask yourself, what underlying issues in my life, in my perceptions, in my “lens”, led me to that behaviour?
And as you mull that over, listen to God as He speaks into that relationship:
1 Peter 2:1 So then, stop doing anything to hurt others. Don’t lie anymore, and stop trying to fool people. Don’t be jealous or say bad things about others.
God our Father, like any dad, wants His children to love one another, just as He loves them … us. What an incredibly powerful expression of His love it is when we love those around us with that very same love. And as someone once said …
Blessed is the one who’s learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Blessed by this devotion?
Share it with a friend!
Respond