Don't tear others down
Dear Editor, Ialways find it amazing that towns full of people who profess to follow Jesus Christ have so much idle time that they need to fill it up with tearing other people down. Someone makes mistakes, suspicions are raised, and the rumors begin to spread. The people who spread the rumors positively enjoy believing that the worst that they can say about a person is true. "Oh, I know this is true," they will say. "I know because I talked to someone who knows." Or even worse, "I know because I talked to somebody who knows somebody who knows." And before you know it, a person who has made some serious mistakes has become Hitler reincarnated - a danger, a menace.
I wonder at this because if Christians were about the business that their Lord has given them - feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting prisoners, etc. - then they would have little time to devote to tearing down those that Christ commanded them to love. Undoubtedly, some places don't have any poor, hungry, lonely, or imprisoned people.
I happen to know some who are on the receiving end of attacks by people who "know somebody who knows." I tell them to keep their heads high, to be better than those who delight in believing the worst of people. I tell them that the Lord said "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." I tell them that "in everything God works for good with those who love him." I tell them that we are heirs with Christ "provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him." I tell them that Christ forgave his enemies even when they were tearing his clothes from his body and crucifying Him. I tell them that even in the hope of the promises of Christ, it can be difficult to keep a steady heart when everywhere you turn, there is another person ready to tear you down. But Christ has shared all of our sufferings. We can suffer no persecution or rejection that He has not endured with patience. Deo gratias. This is our hope; this is our salvation.
Beaux Boudreaux, Jr.
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