“My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes
from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship
with God.” (1 John 4:7, MSG)
I have only recently retired from being a teacher. Throughout my entire
career in the classroom, I learned a few important lessons. I learned that
showing my students I cared about them would spur them on to do their best.
When they would ask me if they could help me, I always accepted their offer
because I knew that learning to help one another makes such a difference in
this world. I truly experienced the truth that genuine love makes for a
perfect classroom.
I remember this one student, however, who thought I was a fake. I tried to
help him, but it was obvious that he didn’t trust me. How I wished I knew
why he was so against me! Then one day I found out. I learned that his dad
had left his mom and had married another woman. As a result, this student
did not trust men. In fact, he didn’t trust adults at all!
I continued to try to reach him; but nothing helped. To him, I was a fake,
just like the other men in his life. He had been hurt so deeply that he just
couldn’t trust others anymore. He had learned to rely only on himself.
I felt so sad for this student, but there are times when all we can do is
leave the situation in the arms of God. I did this, and every day I went to
school early to pray over his desk before he arrived.
You see, where there is no love and no trust, we have a recipe for being
badly hurt. Unfortunately this also happens in churches. In fact, it can
happen anywhere in the world. There is only One who never hurt anyone. His
name is Jesus Christ. He did not come to harm us, He came to heal our
brokenness.
I still pray for this student. I wish he could read the following text: “He
has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see
with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal
them.” (John 12:40 NIV)
In this life, we will encounter people who have been hurt. In fact, we will
be hurt ourselves. When that happens, we need to pray and trust in God. I
wish I could meet this student again. It would be so good to see if he has
allowed God to do the amazing things He has for those who have been hurt.
The truth is, our Heavenly Father is constantly reaching out to us. Even if
we are rebels or we have made terrible decisions, God’s response to us is
this: “This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into
the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are
talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage
they've done to our relationship with God.” (1 john 4;8-10, MSG)
God is not our enemy. He loves us. Jesus took our mistakes to the cross. He
took our sins away for eternity so that we will be able to come to an
understanding of just how deeply our Heavenly Father loves us.
If you have been hurt and find it hard to trust, I suggest that you review
the above Bible texts. This is Truth. Real Truth. God loves you forever. He
will never ignore you. You are His precious child: “See what great love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And
that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 NIV)
Would a mother hate her child?
Never.
Even more so with our loving Father.
You are loved and God will forgive you. The one that hates is the evil one.
He will make you believe that God doesn’t love you, but he is a liar: “He
was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no
truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar
and the father of lies.” (John 8:44, NIV)
Don’t listen to the evil one! Instead, I suggest that you read the following
Bible text every day for a month. As you meditate upon the Word of God, His
Truth will become real to you, thanks be to God our Father! “No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am
sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39, NIV)
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.