So [the Pharisees] watched [Jesus] closely, whether He would heal ... on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him... Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent... [He] looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts. (Mark 3:1-6 NKJV)
He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
That He may seat him with princes.
(Psalms 113:7-8 NKJV)
These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look, A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
(Proverbs 6:16-19 NKJV)
You couldn't pay me to be a parent. The hours stink. Expenses know no limits. The job taxes sanity, wisdom and patience beyond any reasonable level. It can only be done for love. And love means the agony of seeing children you'd give your life for treat one another spitefully.
"Why does she get to" and "it's not fair that" and "he's touching / breathing on / staring at me" eat up joy and peace. I have seven siblings I love beyond life itself and I can't imagine tearing down their lives like this. Yet it must be in my blood for it's in the blood of my brood.
The Father is being grieved to see His own children—united in Christ's blood!— display pride, truth-twisting, failure to help the hurting, manipulation, power struggles, gossip, discord. We tear down the lives of one another and may not even recognize our selfish, petty agendas.
If we would build up ourselves, we must build up His body, and not tear down those in it.
Lord, You are not just my Father but our Father. You taught us to pray with one another in mind, yet we are more selfish than we're able to see. Please give each of us a glimpse this day if You are being grieved by the way we affect Your body, and empower us to change.
Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com.
Copyright 2008, Anne Lang Bundy
Anne, how your words touch me today. I missed your blog post this morning during my devotional time, but I'm glad I remembered to catch it before bed. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, the sniping between siblings must be going around. My children are wrestling like bear cubs lately..sometimes in play, many times not. It can be hard to take.
Even harder to take is such wrestling among grown ups. As we discussed, I have such turmoil when Christians seem set out to cause discord. None of us are perfect and all of us will misunderstand, miscommunicate, or just plain get mad, frustrated and misspeak. But to purposefully cut down the Body...it must grieve our Father deeply indeed.
More than ever, the Body needs to be unified. There might soon come a time when to be otherwise means immediate danger. I can begin to envision that day--a day when we are bound to rely on one another for survival. Maybe we need to start practicing NOW.
God's blessings today Anne.