Do we give our best or very worst to those we love most?

Perhaps families are the most frequent scene of attack because there the true self emerges. And perhaps we don’t check ourselves because we know we can get away with it there. Instead of giving our best to those we deeply love, we may give them our worst. 

Our hope for change comes through participating in a life from above, which connects us to that invisible spiritual realm and its powers (see John 3:8). We really do have “everything we need for a godly life.” How? “Through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3, NIV). Experiment with such knowledge of him. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Picture Jesus teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Imagine a bent-over woman who had been crippled for eighteen years. As so often happened, his overwhelming compassion beamed toward her. He called her up front and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity” (Luke 13:12, NIV). 

Can you see Jesus gently putting his hands on this dear woman so that in an instant she stretched herself out tall and statuesque, shouting out praise to God? Into this moment of joy and wonder entered an indignant synagogue leader to say that Jesus picked the wrong day to heal her. This was not a Lord’s Day sort of thing to do. 

Set aside what really happened next and instead imagine Jesus attacking this leader in the clever way we know he could have—lightning bolts coming out of the clouds, melting the man (recall the wicked witch at the end of The Wizard of Oz), or simply ignoring him but later using his influence to make sure he never ate lunch in that town again. In reality, Jesus did speak up, indicting such behavior as hypocrisy and asserting that this dear woman was more important than the man’s livestock, which he would have gladly rescued had it been imperiled on the Sabbath (see Luke 13:10-16). 

See how Jesus embodied this calm but firm noncooperation with those who attacked him? He did not take things personally but addressed the specific issue. I imagine that if he saw the synagogue leader in the marketplace the next day, he may have bought him a kumquat and drawn him in affable conversation. What do you think Jesus would have done?