Sticks and stones

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Matthew 5:11

This week I received another unprovoked rant against the ministry, accusing us of being liars, of lying to ourselves, of being ignorant, hateful bigots and being told in no uncertain terms where to go.  This person sent a message via our Instagram account and had clearly sought us out for the sole purpose of insulting and accusing us.

Yet unbeknown to them, through their rant, I am blessed.  Matthew 5:11 assures me of this and so I take this blessing and try to turn it around.  I asked the Lord, what do you want me to say to this person and was able to share some personal words with them which led to a short, but significant online conversation.
 

• Did I engage them and get them to see that what we are doing is so needed in the world today? No.
• Did I try to convict them that they needed to turn back to Jesus?  No
• Did I open the door for more conversations?  Possibly?
• Did I honour God in my response and try as best I could to shine the light of Jesus? Yes

And that is all it takes.  A desire to respect and honour anyone who insults or maligns us because of our love for Jesus and to take an opportunity through our response to show them God’s love.  Through showing love and acceptance we pray that they see that we are not bigots or liars, simply Christians walking our path to wholeness. In walking that path we still have the temptations and struggles of the world, but we have a huge advantage, the Spirit of the living God living and working in us to help us do it well.

James 1:2-4 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.