John 7:18-20
18Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
Small thing #4,801,742 that I never noticed until this study: the crowd actually calls Jesus out for saying that they're trying to kill him! (Which, incidentally, they were. And did.) But boy, did they ever deny it.
Again, like yesterday, this is proof positive that human nature has changed little over the past, oh, two thousand years or so. They've been whispering and plotting and gossiping, but when Jesus confronts them with it, it's, "What?!?!? Where in the world did you get that crazy idea?!?!? Why, I never!!!" People are people, and this is what we do.
The lessons for me: A.) Don't be a person. Human nature tells us to be gossips and mindless chatterers, and we tend to get drawn in by the crowd. I'm as guilty as anyone. But if we want to make a difference in the world, to be wiser and more mature and more like Christ, we must rise above it. B) Don't get so worked up when someone says something bad about me. Like I've said before, they did it to Jesus, and He was perfect. Instead of getting riled up over it, I want a turn-the-other-cheek sort of Christian spirit.
Words can hurt, but we decide whether we hurt others and the extent to which we allow others to hurt us.
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