Bitterness to Betterness

You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

Matthew 5:46-47

Believe it or not, I am not a nice person.  I am prone to anger, resentment, and even bitterness toward those who have hurt me or someone I care about.  I am learning to let these feelings go, but I still have moments.  Don't we all?

When we hold grudges, when we hold on to our anger, when we hold on to our resentment, we are giving a home to the roots of bitterness!  Believe it or not, I have seen people who are so filled with bitterness that they can't stand anyone.  It shows on their faces, in their voices, in their actions!  When bitterness sets down roots, they are extremely difficult to pull up.  And we, as humans, aren't too keen on doing the hard work of getting rid of such roots. 

Have you noticed that Jesus' teachings always seem to go against our "natural" responses?  Someone hurts me, I get ticked off and want to hurt them worse, then the back and forth begins each trying to inflict more hurt on the other.  Where does it stop?  When we are on our deathbed and realize that we have wasted so much of our short time on this earth being miserable?

Something I have prayed for, a LOT, is that God would soften my heart and make me His ambassador.  You know what that looks like? Learning to smile at people that I don't even know, saying "Hi", holding a door open for them, helping them in some way.  Most people who know me know that I almost always keep candy or cough drops in my pockets to give out when I get a chance.  And you know what?  More times than not, when you smile and greet someone, they may initially be stunned, but they will smile and greet you as well.

If I just smile and say "Hi" to only the people I know (and like) what difference does that make?  Jesus calls us to love others just as much as we love ourselves.  Notice He says "Others" instead of "people you like".  Wonder what kind of world we could have if we actually cared about others as much as we care about ourselves?