Good morning, My Dear Friends,
Do you know what you should try to remember every time you get into an argument? In times of conflict, when you’re not getting along, when you’re tempted to cross over a line and say something you might regret (even though it’s going to be a zinger), just before you go out of bounds, you should remember, “Oh, who am I dealing with here? This isn’t just my wife. This isn’t just my husband. This isn’t just my boss. I am in the presence of someone whom God loves so much. This person is so valuable to God, I need to tread lightly. I’ve got to be mindful.”
The best example of this is actually Jesus. When Jesus was being crucified, he said the oddest thing. He said, “Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Jesus wasn’t ascribing value to them based on their value to him at that moment. He just knew how valuable they were to his heavenly Father — and as long as he kept his eye on that, he could pray for his enemies.
This principle is the on-ramp to forgiveness. Because the beginning of forgiveness is to begin to see people the way that God sees them. When you can begin to see people the way that God sees them, as people of immeasurable value to God, you have taken the first step in learning to respond to them the way that God has responded to them.
C. S. Lewis, in his book, The Weight of Glory, says that when we get to heaven, the Bible talks about how we will have glorified bodies, and we’ll be incredible looking, in some capacity. Then he makes this comment, which I think is awesome. He says, “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship.” In other words, if we could suddenly see each other as God sees us, there would be an immediate, “Ahhh.”
It is in light of this overwhelming possibility that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another: all our friendships, all our loves, our play, and our politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a “mere” mortal.
Changing the way you interact with everyone,
Bruce Jones, Pastor
Imagine Church
