When the morning was come, all the chief priest and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. -Matthew 27:1-2
And when he (Jesus) was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. -Matthew 27:12
And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. -Matthew 27:23
And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him in the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. -Matthew 27:29-31
Do you think you have problems? Are people talking about you? Have 'friends' turned their backs on you? When they've been given the truth, do they cling to a lie? I would venture to say that NOTHING we have been through compares to the verses I listed above. Jesus deserved NONE of the betrayal, none of the thorns on his head, none of the mocking, none of the spit and none of the torture he endured before and while hanging on the cross. Yet he opened not his mouth. He was led like a sheep to slaughter.
'Well, he had to.' you may say. Did he? He wrestled in the garden with his will. As human flesh he battled the same flesh we battle. The Bible tells us he was tempted just like we are tempted. The difference? He was without ANY sin. And his desire to please his Father (to do his Father's will) conquered all.
Why would we think we would get through this life without anyone talking about us? Why would everyone like us? We were born in sin. We have all failed God at some point in our lives. There comes a point where we choose to follow God or we choose to keep walking in that sin. And let me tell you, when I was in sin, there was plenty to talk about. On top of that plenty to talk about, there were those who thought they needed to make up even more. There came a point in my life where I let go of that sin man and with letting go I gained a desire to please my heavenly Father. Am I perfect? No. Do they still talk? Sure they do. We might as well all face it. It's a part of life. Does it change who I really am? NO WAY! Do I have to have to try to prove my point when confronted with the 'talk'? NO, I sure don't. And neither do you. You see, the truth always comes out. People will choose what they will do with that truth. You can't control that, but you can control how you live your life. And that's something the 'talkers' can't control. I promise there are bigger battles in life.
We are human and sometimes the 'little' things get to us. We want everyone to like us. We want everyone to speak good of us. Face it, it's just not going to happen. My hope is that when you feel overwhelmed by others actions that you will be reminded of the verses above and how Jesus dealt with betrayal. I hope that those verses will bring to remembrance the price that Jesus paid for you. He looked down the road and saw you, your mess, your hurt, your life and he went through death (he defeated death) so that you could live. The devil wants so much to keep our focus off of Jesus. Our goal should be to stay so focused on Jesus, so engulfed in Jesus that we don't even notice those things. Let God take care of it!
