A "Radical" Life
Striving to live a life less-ordinary.

rejection

Over the years I've learned that no matter how much you try and live the way you should, you will still have people who don't understand. People who take offense to you. Sometimes it's because of a misunderstanding. Sometimes it's because they don't agree with you. And sometimes it's just because you're not perfect. Yes, it's true. You can be a really, really good person - always trying to do the right thing and people will STILL be upset with you. Gasp! And it hurts. Jesus went through this too, so you're in good company. For me, it helps to be reminded of that. In John 6, Jesus teaches some pretty wild stuff. The people listening and following him responded with "This is hard teaching. Who can accept it?" Jesus lays into them a bit and it says that "from this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." Ouch. I mean, we're talking about God-in-the-flesh here. I can't imagine the temptation He must have felt in that moment to do something AMAZING to prove that He had every right to say what He was saying! Jesus didn't mess up or say anything wrong here...people just took offense to Him. And I think it hurt Him. He even turns to His 12 closest friends and says "You do not want to leave me too, do you?" People will be people, and rejection doesn't necessarily mean you've done something wrong. Maybe they've misunderstood you or think you've done something they disagree with...or maybe you DID do something wrong and dropped the ball somewhere despite your best efforts. But you can kill yourself trying to make everyone happy. Nobody likes to be rejected, especially when you are really trying to do your best. But what ultimately matters is pleasing God, not man. If you are giving your best to God, doing everything you can to follow and obey and grow and do everything in love...well...people will still reject you. But it's really okay. God's opinion is all you need to be concerned with. Keep focused on what truly matters!
Posted by THE SMITH FAMILY at Monday, March 01, 2010
1 comments:
Sheena
March 3, 2010 at 5:39 PM

How True! Your worship leadership last week was amazing. It was absolutely spirit filled. Thank You!


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Jeremiah Smith

Jeremiah Smith

WHY THE BLOG?

I'm striving to live a life less-ordinary. As followers of Christ our lives should not look like everybody elses. We should be more giving, more loving, more passionate, more sure, more...radical. But we're not. We blend in and desperately want to fit in. This blog is my journey toward to a "radical" life that doesn't look like the rest of the world.


ABOUT ME

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Atlanta, Georgia, United States
A Hoosier, a Buckeye and two Rwandans out on a mission to serve the world. Missionaries for Rwanda through AFRICA NEW LIFE MINISTRIES. We are entirely donor-supported, so if you'd like to partner with us through prayer or finances, we would LOVE to set up a time to chat!