There is a Fly…

…and he wouldn’t die. No amount of effort would gift me the opportunity to swat that fly to his rightful place of being dead on the ground or its guts splattered on some wall or window. My mission was to kill that fly no matter what.

My first attempt to obliterate this pesky insect was with some lame piece of paper found near my computer keyboard. That proved a lost cause because all the fly did was buzz even more insistently and loudly. Well, I would put an end to that and shifted gears and upgraded to a cardboard flyer that I had received in the mail. That should do it.

Nope… didn’t happen. A few of my swats may have temporarily wounded the fly but it soon returned with a renewed vengeance and was zipping around like it had been injected with a high dosage of steroids and its attempts to annoy became even more crazed.

I eventually grew weary of the fight and decided to spray a poisonous insecticide in its path. BINGO, Instant death; way to go girl. I had taken down that pesky fly and felt empowered by aiming some poison in its direction.

There is a Person…

…that continually annoyed me with their combative comments, negative Facebook posts, annoying and pesky behavior. Long story made short, they had differing opinions, moral values and showcased a behavior and lifestyle contrary to mine. They are like that fly that won’t die.

Have you ever had any pesky individuals with an opinion about everything and every swat of the fly swatter only serves to incite more of their comments and nastiness? It happens daily in this age of social media and our first response is to take them down and spray them with poisonous words.

We start out with a wimpy reply (that would be the piece of paper) and when that doesn’t work, we seek something more destructive and weight our words with poison and send them out like missiles to terminate subsequent confrontation in a desire to take them down.

There is Jesus…

…who continually loves me (and you too!) even when I try to bring down that person who continually antagonizes or annoys me. Through the eyes of God it’s a character building session (for me) in learning to

• Show respect to people who don’t even deserve it; not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.
  That…
• You can’t change how people treat you or what they say about you. All you can do is change how you react to it.
  And …
• Sometimes it’s better to react with no reaction.

“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:28

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9

“Instead, love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind even to ungrateful and evil people.” Luke 6:35

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44

Today’s Prayer:

Dear God, help me to be kind to unkind people so that I might be free from hatred, anger and grudges. Grant me the greatest possession of all – Your perfect love. Change my perception of those who speak spitefully against me and give me the fortitude to love them because that is the purest form of peace and what you command of me.

Amen