Forbearing part 1
This is something that I, myself, need to work on. Because even though I completely agree with the saying, "Short hair, don't care," there is more to what we're about to talk about than just not caring. In fact, it is the opposite of that. So let's do our memory verse first. "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing on another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3). Forbearing one another. "Forbearing" is number 430 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to hold onself up against, that is, (figuratively) put up with: - bear with, endure, forbear, suffer." Putting up with one another. Which is, in a sense, easy with the "don't care" attitude. Because if you don't care about someone, they can do what they're gonna do and it won't bother you. Mind over matter, right? If you don't mind, they don't matter. But don't let that last part slide. Forbearing one another. In love. With "love" being number 26 in Strong's Greek Concordance and meaning, "affection or benevolence; specifically (plural) a love feast: - (feast of) charity, dear, love." That, friends, takes it to a whole nother level. Because you're not just ignoring people. Putting up with them, grudgingly, when you're forced to interact with them. Its more than the idea of "fake it 'til you make it." And, listen, I believe that being nice to people you don't like is NOT called being fake. I believe its called being mature. But, again, as always, there's a more excellent way. Jesus. The Way, the Truth, and the Life. The way... of love. Not just suffering people, but actively liking people. Affection. And I heard a long time ago that boys look for reasons to be friends, and girls look for reasons to be enemies. I'm not a girl, obviously, but there does seem to be some truth to that. Guys seem to try to find common ground. Girls seem to try to find the high ground. Not the high ROAD, but the position that makes them look the best, even at someone else's expense. And this isn't true in every case. This isn't my trying to bash the other gender. Because my point is, we ALL need to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. And we can only do that with all lowliness and meekness. We can only do that when we start esteeming others higher than ourselves. When we stop being self-centered, and start being Christ-centered (people-centered). When we stop looking AT people, and seeing the blemishes on the surface, and start looking IN people and seeing what's inside. The deep calls out to the deep, right? The light in me responds to the light in you. The LOVE in me responds to the LOVE in you! And when we see each other in that way--love to love--we will find that common ground. We will find things to like about each other. We can have affection when we realize we are all invited to the same love feast. We can break bread. Share a meal. Get to know each other. Have you ever heard someone say, "That's just the way he is," even when they're doing something that is not so great? Longsuffering. Forbearing. Loving people even when they do things we don't want them to do. Accepting them for who they are, not for who we want them to be. Blessing people that despitefully use you. Again: Maturity. Letting what's inside come out. Love.