A Dog's eye: the measure of a good man part 3

It's easy to be good to your friends, and by being good to them, it's easy for them to reciprocate.

Strangers are a slightly more difficult proposition, because although a bare minimum of courtesy and politeness can be managed by most people, we are generally less tolerant with, and certainly less trusting of people we do not know. Our own insecurities cause us to be wary of strangers and disinclined to get too involved with them.

Some people will help strangers; others will not, as we see in the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan. The Bible says in Galatians that we should "not grow weary while doing good for in due season we will reap a reward if we do not lose heart. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially those who are of the household of faith." This is what I believe God expects of us and although it won't make us good, it will make us better.

The third group of people by whom our treatment of them will demonstrate our "goodness" is our enemies. Most of us would deny having any enemies, but let us say that anytime somebody does you wrong, or does somebody you know wrong, they become your enemy. It is in how we deal with this group of people that the rubber meets the road. In group one, there will be Christians and non-Christians. In group two you might expect to find more Christians than non-Christians, but in reality there will be a mix. In group three, you will be struggling to find anybody at all who relates well to their enemies.

Let's remember Jesus' words: "If you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even tax collectors and sinners do the same? And if your greet the brethren only, what more do you do than others?"

The 12th chapter of Romans is arguably the best snapshot of Godly
behaviour in the Bible. It should be mandatory reading for everyone. Paul writes, "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good." (v. 21) "If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him drink." (v.18) "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." (v.18) Measure yourself against this criteria and you will quickly be forced to agree that you, and everyone else, falls short of the glory of God. There are no "good" men. Even Jesus, when addressed as Good Teacher, rejected this appellation by saying that only God is good.

If this sounds too hard, that's because it is. It's too hard for you, for me, for anyone. It's really not possible for men to live this way except they be filled with the Holy Spirit. Finally, remember this, even if you pass this test and can be good to not only your friends, but also to strangers and enemies, you still won't be anywhere near as good as God.

Z End

Appalling and cheap. Unworthy of me and the high standards I set for this blog. Yes and yes, and yet I have reached the end. This is my third year of blogging A to Z in April and it really has been quite a challenge. There are multiple demands on my time, and I have been staying up later than usual to manage. I haven't had a bed time read for a month because by the time I get to bed, I'm too tired to even open the book. The Hobbit has been waiting patiently on my bedside table, silently craving my attention.

The challenge pushes me and I love that. Deadlines work for me. I can drift into unproductive nonchalance quite easily, and I do have a propensity for procrastination. I would love to have a editor demanding I finish my WIP, because of all my readers who were dying to get their hands on my fifth novel, and because of all the money they, the publishers that is, would make. I reckon I would rise to that challenge, instead of finding other things to do because really, where is the urgency? I do not have a galaxy of eager readers salivating over the prospect of another literary gem from D.A.Cairns. (Incidentally I do write literary gems) No one expects anything from me, except me.

So I end this whingefest in the 2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge, with a complaint against myself. I am indeed my own worst enemy. Fortunately, Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, and I can go with that quite happily.

A couple of questions to finish with: Do you do better working to deadlines, or setting your own pace? And secondly, who or what is your worst enemy?

Photo sources:
http://muls.org/2015/03/31/ill-later-said-law-student/
http://pha.purdue.edu/news/mu-deadlines-approaching-eps-and-hospitals

E is for Enemy

“As the mirror steamed over, he wrote on it with his finger.

Love your neighbor

Loathe your neighbor

David liked that. It was poignant and poetic. Julie, he would love. Phil, he would act against. An image of a bomb in a letterbox popped into his mind.”

-          Loathe Your Neighbor ch. 14

 

Is it easier to make friends or enemies? Is it easier to keep friends or enemies? Is it easier to love your friends or your enemies? Most people don’t have enemies because they don’t want them. It usually requires effort to make enemies although sometimes you can incur someone’s continuous wrath without trying, or without even knowing you are the object of their hatred. The point is you generally have to something wrong to a person, or to have them do something wrong to you, to make them an enemy. I think it’s equally easy to make friends and to make enemies. Maintaining friendships, quality friendships, requires effort, and usually, if it s a healthy friendship, reciprocal effort. It is possible to preserve a state of enmity without effort. In fact, doing nothing, will help ensure the acrimony festers. Can you love someone who hates you? Jesus tells us that if we only love our friends we are no different to everyone else. He says that in loving our enemies we demonstrate that we understand the love and grace of God. It can be extremely difficult, virtually impossible to love your enemies. Forgiveness is the key. Unless you have been forgiven and have forgiven yourself, you won’t be able to forgive others, and you will always have enemies, and the worst one will be yourself.