Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ

[homewardangel]

Hello,

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”. I understand how this goes in life, but sometimes its very hard. Not just hard to do the work “imitating” but knowing what Christ would do in order to know how to imitate him.

I don’t mean the basics, I mean when things get difficult. Usually my biggest struggle is with other people and what they expect from me or how I end up reacting to other people.

I don’t mean someone who’s having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year. I mean the people who are truly dysfunctional, mentally unbalanced, disturbed, evil, hateful, ect… The type of people that you wouldn’t be in the same room with unless you were forced to be. Sometimes these are coworkers, bosses, even family members. You find yourself being pulled down and having the life sucked out of your soul on a daily basis.

How do you imitate Christ in those cases? I don’t mean for example: that I personally am the alcholic, I mean the people who have to work and live with the alcoholic. What would Christ do?

Any ideas?
Terry

 

[pray4peace]

Jesus said everyone is our brother and sister, the alcholic, the mentally ill, thieves, murderers, etc. They have been created by a greater love, God.

The people who suffer from these afflictions are the most needy of the flock and would not be where they are if someone had given them love and understanding.

We can be kind, offer help, and pray for them daily. We offer up our suffering and trials to God.

“When suffering comes into ur lives, we should accept it with a smile. This is the greatest gift from God: to have the courage to accept everything he gives us and asks of us with a smile.”

                                                     -  Mother  Teresa

You will be blessed by doing loving and kindness for others, especially when it takes you out of your comfort zone.

Jesus is hidden under the guise of suffering and so when you see someone sick, or afflicted , remember Jesus is there in the lowest of the low. You will find Him there and great reward in seeing and loving your neighbor. God does not expect you to do this alone, but to ask Him and He will help you with this.

Blessings

 

[homewardangel]

Thank you for your reply and giving me some things to think about. Since you have me thinking, I have a somethings to say and maybe you (or someone else) can tell me where I am off base??

“When suffering comes into ur lives, we should accept it with a smile. This is the greatest gift from God: to have the courage to accept everything he gives us and asks of us with a smile.”

• Mother Teresa

I completley understand and agree with this. But aren’t there different kinds of suffering and even different ways to suffer? God gave us a brain doesn’t he expect us to use it and sort out what we can change and what we can’t change.

Example: If I am diagnosed with cancer that would be without a doubt suffering…but I’m sure God expects that we are going to use our brains and continue to go to the doctor and follow treatments in hopes of being cured. So while we are to accept the suffering that doesn’t mean that we are to just smile and say “I have cancer, thank you God for this suffering” and not go for treatments. I take that as meaning the treatments themselves are suffering, but you don’t stop trying.

You will be blessed by doing loving and kindness for others, especially when it takes you out of your comfort zone.

What do you call “your comfort zone”? Silly question I know, but I think its different for everyone. Are we to put ourselves out completely? This seems like one of the lines that an unbalanced person would say to try to guilt someone into giving in to them. How do we know what our boundaries are for our “comfort zone” and when we are into an area where someone should be taking care of themselves?

The people who suffer from these afflictions are the most needy of the flock and would not be where they are if someone had given them love and understanding.

I’m thinking about this and I am almost ready to say that I completely disagree - but I’m not sure. Because I know there are women out there with alcoholic husbands who want nothing more than to love those men (and by the same token there are probably men with alcoholic wives just wanted to love them as well). That is why I think this statement has weaknesses - but then I wonder about those “alcoholics” growing up and were they loved? In which case whose responsibility is it to provide and care for these mentally/physically/spiritually/emotionally crippled people?

Jesus is hidden under the guise of suffering and so when you see someone sick, or afflicted , remember Jesus is there in the lowest of the low. You will find Him there and great reward in seeing and loving your neighbor. God does not expect you to do this alone, but to ask Him and He will help you with this.

Again this seems like a broad statement that can be misinterpreted. I’m sure prisons are full of murderers and rapists who would agree and say that God wants you to help them. Where are the responsibility lines that God looks at?

Terry

 

[pray4peace]

When we have trials or crosses, we don’t ignore getting medical attention or getting help for ourselves or others, but we do offer this up to God and not complain about it.

God asks us to live like he did, it is not easy and sometimes we have to go out of our way, be inconvenienced to do His will. We do the best we can within our capabilities and ask for God’s help and trust him.

We are all responsible to help our brothers and sisters that are lonely, sick, etc. We are called to help them, even if it is just to be kind to them. We can do little things for people out of kindness like acts of charity.

If alcholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, etc., were loved, then they would have no need to escape to their evil ways. People are lonely and empty looking for happiness in all the wrong places. We can have compassion and pray for these people instead of judging and being critical of them. When we work with them we can become examples of Jesus to them by being kind and loving people with living clean and holy lives.

It all comes down to loving our neighbor as ourselves, by doing acts of mercy. Luke 10:29-37

The New Testament is full of examples of what Christ did, and to do this this takes much grace and blessings from God, and a lot of prayer and trust. It is not easy to do God’s will, in fact many people turned their back on him because they thought what he asked was too difficult, or they did not understand. Reading the bible will help one grow in Christ, and this takes time and prayer.

I hope this did not confuse you more.

 

[homewardangel]

I am confused, because I am trying to find what God wants, not what others think. Not the friend, spouse, coworker who is looking for money, sex, love, ect…

It all comes down to loving our neighbor as ourselves, by doing acts of mercy. Luke 10:29-37

I agree with this, but I find this interesting because if I love myself as I love my neighbor, that puts a twist on the dynamic that I have grown up with. I would never call a drug addict or an alcoholic hopeless loser - but I call myself that. If I feel someone is taking advantage of me - I instantly tell myself not to be so lazy and selfish. But people to take adavantage of others. So if I love myself as I love my neighbor - I would not do anything for my neighbor that I would not ask my neighbor to do for me???

If alcholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, etc., were loved, then they would have no need to escape to their evil ways. People are lonely and empty looking for happiness in all the wrong places. We can have compassion and pray for these people instead of judging and being critical of them. When we work with them we can become examples of Jesus to them by being kind and loving people with living clean and holy lives.

I agree that many people look for happiness in all the wrong places. To your point, people look for happiness in the wrong places because they have never found it for real so they don’t know where to look to find the genuine article. (myself included)

Do we only do the right thing if we are loved? No I don’t, so why does the alcoholic, drug addict or prostitute get that stipulation put in for them? Shouldn’t they just do the right thing because God says so? Could I say “God give me a good, kind, loving spouse and then I will stop sleeping around, stop drinking, go to church and get a good job to support our family”? I don’t expect that…should I?? I don’t know how many years of my life I have gone without feeling loved - and yet I’m not a prostitute, drug addict or an alcoholic. I work every day go to church and try to live right.

A drug addict (or alcoholic or prosititute) is not going to go clean just because a coworker, neighbor or family member is kind and loving to them. If I am a manager and at work and a drug addict/alcoholic gives me grief every day - by putting coworkers down (to make themselves feel better), disrupting the working environment, not doing their work and others have to cover or suffer because of this, they are always coming in late, leaving early, ect…To imitate Christ what should be done? Others doing the work for them will not make them straighten up. Firing them will just put them in a worse position. Send them to facility for rehab to dry out - but who pays for that? How many times do you send them to rehab? Are they on the payroll while they are in rehab? who pays their rent, car, ect…while they are in rehab?

I have been around many messed up people and I am trying to understand what Christ would do around messed up people. If he were boss would he fire the drunk? Would he send the drunk to rehab? How many times would he send the drunk to rehab?

 

[pray4peace]

We cannot know what God would do. God works through His way not ours. We cannot change others habits or ways. We can only change ourselves. We have a good roadmap, the Bible that has examples of what God did do.

If I am in a situation that is not good for my health and spirit then I would make changes in my life. God gave us a will to make choices in accordance to how he wants us to live. Prayer will help you make the choices that you need to make.

 

[homewardangel]

Thanks for your thoughts. It seems that when people talk about these things as if they are cut and dry, black and white that is wrong. It seems like it there are some grey areas, and depending on God to clear them up for us isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

Terry