JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF THE SON (Series)
-through the eyes of John
Retaliate Not! (John 19)
Jesus did not die on the cross; He was dead already, meaning He lived not for Himself, but for His Father. He had no rights; therefore He accepted whatever suffering was on the path of God’s will. We are in Christ, our lives are no longer our own, and we also will suffer. So like Christ we are not to retaliate when others falsely accuse us, condemn us, or afflict us when it is according to His will.
Php 1:21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.
Since the world is opposed to God, we cannot expect them to be in agreement with us. People, even our own family, for no real reason at all, will seem to have such negative attitudes towards us. Our toughest trials are sometimes in these moments, when the ones we love the most, turn against us. When we refuse to retaliate and we surrender our emotions to the Lord, as Jesus did in the garden, submitting to His will, that is when the power of the cross can be most evident.
2Co 12:9 Each time He said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
It is easy to confess that we are “crucified with Christ, it is no longer, we who live, but He who lives in us” (Gal. 2:20), it is another thing to live it. It is in the midst of these trials that give us the opportunity not just to confess Christ, but to become His disciple.
Luk 14:27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple.
The hardest people to reach are sometimes our family, why? Because of our witness or really lack of it! We have false expectations; people are not going to accept what we believe just because they are family or friends. The spirit of the world is opposed to the spirit of God within us, there will be great opposition. It is how we respond to this opposition that determines who wins the battle we are in. We must remember that we “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world”(Eph.6:12), so we must remember it is not so much that they are against us, it is a spiritual war, it is a battle within. Now “greater is He that is within us than He that is within the world” (1 John 4:4), so we have the upper hand. If we can maintain our witness, then we can greatly influence those whom oppose us, towards Christ. The resurrection power of Christ is released when we truly carry the cross of Christ.
Application: Let’s examine how we respond when others, especially the ones we love, are negative towards us. Then let’s repent for our poor witness and ask God for strength to bear the cross He has given us.