He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. -Revelation 21:4 (NIV)

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, where he called for an end to racism in the United States. The speech was especially relevant in those turbulent years, where racism and hatred were very openly displayed.

Here in the United States, today is Martin Luther King Day, commemorating his historic plea for harmony. His speech famously ends:

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

From what Scripture shows us, there will always be disharmony when people follow anyone but God: their own selfish desires, the tempting whispers of the enemy, or other gods. This agent’s pragmatic perspective is that complete harmony awaits true believers in heaven, where we will join the Lord and true believers who went before us, free from the shackles of sin.

Till then, we are to continue our efforts in the Great Commission to God’s glory, till everyone on this earth has heard His Good Word…and those who choose Jesus can rejoice like all true believers who go to heaven, just like the spiritual goes:

Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. -Proverbs 17:27

Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly. -Proverbs 14:29

A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel. -Proverbs 15:18

There’s a seminar called Love & Respect I want to discuss in another post which really opened my eyes. In it, one of the key concepts is that your response is your responsibility.

The context for the seminar, and that concept, is marital conflict and resolution, but it really can be applied to any relationship.

Which path?

The worldly path: It’s all about you

If you’re an unbeliever, it just means that you need to be the bigger, more mature person…which is a really tough pill to swallow when you feel wronged, and you’ve got to say something. You just can’t let it go. In fact, if you don’t do or say anything, you feel you will have been an accessory in robbing yourself of happiness.

The believer’s path: It’s all about Him

If you’re a believer, however, your happiness is not tied to your circumstance, or the actions of another person. Why? Because you’re then a puppet, at the whim of strings another person is pulling, and whipped around by the winds of turbulent times.

Instead, when the other person is just poking and prodding and slandering and accusing and condemning…when they’re unleashing everything in their arsenal to find a chink in your spiritual armor…you can either take it head on (you won’t last!) or choose His peace.

Note that I didn’t say firing back was an option!

(In fairness, some belief systems do advocate that you don’t tie your peace to circumstances or people, either. But they don’t, of course, tie it to God’s infinite peace.)

Easy for you to say!

Right? You might say, “That’s easy for you to say…you’re not in my situation!”

But the truth is, God’s peace is infinite and inexhaustible. We only need to tap into it. And to do that, we must step out of our flesh natures, which harbor the hurt and self-pity and indignance.

It’s not strength that’s needed to do this…but instead, to let go and trust. To remember that He sees everything that’s going on, and that you trust His promise that He will work out all things for the good of His children who love Him, and that His peace and unconditional love for you can be channeled through you to the other person. It’s not about you. It’s about Him.

So…I’m a doormat?

I wrestle with this…so being loving of the other person, regardless of their spiritual performance, makes me a doormat, right? I just let this keep going and going? Where’s the discernment to act, not just sit back and take it in faith that He will make things better?

The following devotional helped me immensely to understand that it is not about being a doormat at all, and to see what Jesus did in His time on this earth:

Agape love doesn’t obligate you to do any of those things. But you might still think agape love-God’s gift-love-makes you into some­one people can abuse. If that’s what you think, you’re missing a clear picture of love.

Read the whole devotional »