As many of you know, at least those of you who know me or have read my blog, I am a teacher. Currently I am a preschool teacher. At the school I work at we try many different theories of education but one of the main ones is love and logic. In love and logic it talks about having natural consequences for children and adults keeping their cool by having a phrase they answer the children with. Sometimes love and logic works. Other times it does not.
One time, during nap, I was trying to get a child to sleep. I rubbed his back calmly for about 15 minutes. Then my co-teacher left for her break. This child who I was trying to get to sleep decided he didn't want to sleep. He began trying to get up. Now, during nap, we require students to stay on their beds and stay quiet for the friends who are trying to sleep.
Long story short, this child decided to cuss at me, kick me, pinch me, hit me, and bite me because he did not want to sleep. He wanted to run around the room and wake up his friends. All the while he was doing these things to me I was trying to follow love and logic. I kept saying "I love you and I know you'll make the right choice." Obviously it was not working. My director finally came in to relieve me after 45 minutes. But, the whole time I was trying to protect this child and the other children I was thinking how crazy I was. What kind of person would tell someone they love them when all that person was doing was hurting them?
After I got past the trauma of the whole situation I began to think. I wondered if anyone else had ever gone through something like that before. I wondered how someone could keep saying "I love you and I know you'll make the right choice" to someone who kept hurting them. Then I stopped. I realized that I have done what this child did to me to someone else. I had done that to Jesus.
Every time we sin we are hurting God. He cannot be with sin because he is holy. But, Jesus is a good teacher. God is a good father who cares about us. God sent his son to die for our sins to show his love for us. Now, if we accept Christ, our sins are washed white as snow. When we make the right choice, Jesus says "I love you." When we are faced with temptation Jesus says "I love you and I know you'll make the right choice." And, when we do sin, Jesus says "I still love you, come back to me and I'll wash your sins white as snow."
Jesus is the ultimate example of love. You may never face the same situation I faced. But, you probably will face a time where it is difficult for you to love someone. We are to be Jesus' example on earth. That means we are to love others even if they hurt us. We are to love others even if they are mean to us. We are to love others even if they never ask for forgiveness or say "sorry." Is it easy? No, is it what we are called to do as Christians? Yes, we are called to love others.
So, will you love others even when it's hard? Will you ask for forgiveness for your sins when you mess up? What can you do to show someone you love them today?
1 Corinthians 13:4-8, John 3:16, John 13:34-35
Image from here.
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