What do you deserve?
In this day and age we live in, you hear this word tossed around quite a bit.
"I don't deserve this!"
"You deserve better!"
"What did you do to deserve that?"
The word deserve means... to merit, be qualified for, or have a claim to (reward, assistance, punishment, etc.) because of actions, qualities, or situation:
We look at this definition and recall instances in our lives where we neither merited nor qualified to be mistreated, ignored, punished, talked about, misjudged, laughed at, criticized, denied justice, abandoned, taken advantage of, abused, etc. The list can go on and on.
We can live for years tangled up in our souls by the mistreatment of others. We can spend endless "mental" moments going over their words and actions, trying to find that one explanation as to what brought this upon us.
If we had only known beforehand that we were going to be exposed to this, we would have certainly chosen a different path! For in truth, NO ONE deserves abuse.
But, it happened. It is a clarifying moment in time. The once safe place we dwell in, now becomes like the woods that Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz, travels through to reach the Emerald City.
Even time seems to slow down when we encounter undeserved ill-treatment. Before that moment, we just flit through the day, unaware of the impending explosion, and then afterwards, it seems as if every moment is like walking in thick, clinging mud. We long to be free to just live again, enjoy life, and put it behind us.
How? Isaiah 53:5
5 But He was wounded because of our transgressions,
he was crushed because of our iniquities:
the chastisement of our welfare was upon Him,
and with His stripes we were healed.
If you take the time to thoughtfully read what Jesus suffered for us, the Holy Spirit will begin to help you realize that what others are inflicting upon you, can be dealt with by grace.
2 Corinthians 5:21 explicitly says that "God made Him to BE sin for us". Jesus did not know sin. But, He became the very thing that is trying to destroy you. He defeated it.
Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was tempted like we are. He is our sympathetic High Priest. But, Jesus did not give IN to that temptation but overcame it for us. It is this Life that He has given to us which now gives us the power OVER sin, OVER injustice, OVER abuse!!! Yes, we may "feel" the effects of that evil deed, but it does not have to overtake us, control us, determine our daily lives, and make us its helpless victim! NO!!!
Jesus took what you and I DESERVED...broke its power, and gave us His Victory over sin and its flaming arrows. He saw it coming before it ever reached you. But, He also dealt with it before you and I were ever born, to show us that victory begins with new life...His Life...in our born again spirits. He is WITH us by the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome and move on.
Does the one who hurt you deserve forgiveness? In the natural...no! But, neither did we. Jesus forgave us before we were ever born. Now that we are "born again", we can forgive others AS Jesus has forgiven us.
Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
In Christ, we HAVE BEEN forgiven, no longer to receive what we "deserve". Through Christ, we can forgive others as we have been forgiven. Trust His grace to help you live a forgiving life, and bring the sins of others to that holy, cleansing blood.
Have a blessed Resurrection Day!
Charlotte
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