Wisdom for Righteous Living
Commentary for the February 24, 2024, Sabbath School Lesson
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"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night." Psalm 1:1-2, NIV
As we travel through life, we meet people. When we do, we have a choice. We can meet them as an adversary or a friend. Some we meet will leave little doubt where they stand from the very first moment, declaring their intent toward us. They do not care whether we are strong or weak. Some will immediately assault our person or our character. Sometimes they are like wild animals putting on a fierce display to dominate or intimidate. Life has taught them to see every person as a threat. Fear leads them to seek control in every confrontation. If we also default to that perspective, conflict will result.
Others we meet may hide their fear and cover it with a veneer of camaraderie while they probe for weaknesses that will allow them to assert control when the time is right. These are worse than the direct individual as when their companion is at their weakest, they will betray them to the enemy. At least the direct confrontation is honest. Only one who lies about being a friend can be a betrayer. Whether the person physically stabs them in the back, or simply assassinates their character to those who are willing to listen, the intent is the same. They seek power over others and will lie, cheat, and steal to achieve that end.
We may also meet someone willing to be a genuine friend who will grasp our hand in a manner that tells us they have our back. We will have theirs as well. A unison of purpose, a similar moral code creates a bond that is not easily broken. It is a blessing when such a friendship is born. The strength of that union will overcome hardships. Such friends do not need to be alike. They can be as different as Frodo and Sam in "The Lord of the Rings" saga, but like those Hobbits, their friendship can see them through to the realization of common goals, each providing moments of strength when the other is weak. And miraculously, when both are weak, somehow summoning what little strength remains to keep moving forward together. It is those moments that forge relationships of iron, for as iron sharpens iron, they build each other up.[i]
Not everyone finds such a friendship. Other relationships, like the two dysfunctional ones already mentioned, seem to be more common because there are so many who have been scarred by the trials of life. They find true friendship impossible to achieve. That failure affects every aspect of life. It affects our work relationships. It affects our ability to thrive. It affects our ability to have a successful marriage. It affects our ability to enjoy familial ties. It affects all of these because trust is essential to those relationships. Trust does not seek to dominate. It does not manipulate. It seeks the good of the other and knows that the other will seek their good as well. When miscommunications happen, and they always will, the assumption must be that the other person meant whatever misunderstanding happened for good and desired to build the relationship and make it stronger. This produces friendships and marriages that last for many decades, "until death do us part."
How does one find a friendship? It is simple yet hard. Become the kind of friend you seek. How can we do that when we have not yet made a friend? The answer is that we already have that kind of friend in God. Through interaction with him, we grow to become like him, to become that kind of friend ourselves. We can interact with him through reading the scriptures, through prayer, and through listening for his voice speaking to our heart. Unfortunately, many voices will compete for our attention, and recognizing the voice of God may be hard at first. That is why reading scripture is important. It helps us to recognize that voice. Prayer is important because it invites God to speak into our lives. When he does, we want to be open to what he is telling us.
God is love.[ii] Therefore, his voice will speak love into our lives. If the voice we hear is speaking fear, we can know it is not from God, for love drives out fear.[iii] Fear and love cannot coexist. Therefore, if we do not feel love for others, we should ask ourselves of what we are afraid. Until we confront that fear and overcome it, we cannot be made perfect in love. Fortunately, God will speak into our lives opportunities for growth, to confront those fears, grow beyond them, and develop the loving character he always intended we should have.
For many, obedience becomes a great obstacle in this process. They place obedience before love. Their fear of what might happen if they fail to obey overcomes love's desire to grow in their heart. Afraid themselves, they use fear to manipulate others into succumbing to the same fears they have. They feel that love is fine, but if obedience is not primary everything will go to pieces. They will lose control over their destiny and will fail to cross over heaven's threshold. However, as Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, "Love fulfills the law."[iv] Jesus also pointed this out when asked about the commandments, he summed them up as love God, and love our neighbor.[v] And when he verified this to a young lawyer, it was for a love that was so full that it left no room for fear of God or our neighbor.
We are not taught that kind of love by this world. First, we must find God. When we do, we will have our first taste of that love. That taste will create yearning for more of God's love, and as we experience it, we will begin to change. One day, we will look back at our lives and where we are now and realize the change has been real and dramatic. We will arrive at a life more real than anything we might have expected if we had followed the path that many follow through life, guided by fear and uncertainty as waves of strife wash over our world and through their lives. Inundated with reports of evil taking place far and near, they cling to that fear and the anger that it produces as the only thing they feel is real. They stockpile weapons to try to find release from the fear that is driving them, fearing things that year after year and decade after decade never really materialize in their own lives, but they are ready if it ever does. Guns, security systems, dogs, everything speaks of the fear that fills so many. If I live in a city of a million people and I arm myself to the teeth because someone in a shady part of town was murdered in a drug deal gone bad, which is more real, the actual threat to me or my family or my fear that is driving me?
We succumb to such feelings because we feel powerless. Mao's "Little Red Book" taught that power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Is that really the answer to feelings of powerlessness? We see when nations go down this path, a nation will develop a new weapon, striking fear into the hearts of citizens in another nation. Driven by that fear, they will then develop a counter weapon, passing the fear back to the first nation. So, the cycle goes with no one finding a way to escape the fear that drives them. The potential for those weapons to be used grows as the need to justify the expense of building such an arsenal also grows. We have seen the unholy hell that those weapons unleash on men, women, and children who simply want to live a normal life free of fear. The same thing happens with individuals. A man with a gun is far more likely to murder a teenager syphoning gas out of his car than he would be without the gun. Ending a life over a few gallons of gasoline is not loving our neighbor no matter how much we might try to justify it. It is not defending our family from harm. It is not growing in love through the presence of God in our lives. It is a frightened finger twitching on a trigger that should never be pulled. And what of the other party, the one siphoning the gas? They are also afraid and may also have a twitchy finger with their own gun trigger. If he is faster or has a better aim, how will his gun firing lead into the body of the homeowner make it worthwhile for the fearful homeowner to confront him and die over those few gallons of gas? Will the man's family feel that he did the right thing, trying to save that gasoline? There is a better option than fear as the guiding principle of our lives. It is love.
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If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy these interesting books written by the author.
To learn more click on this link. Books by Stephen Terry
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Scripture not otherwise identified is taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION and NIV are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.
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