I'm a big man. I've always been a big man, infact I could lose a lot of weight and still be a big man. I was taller than everyone growing up, the fact of the matter is that I am, and will always be big. Growing up I would often get picked on because of my size. (Pause, as I try to stop the supressed feelings that are rising up...ah...oh...whew, I can make it another day!) All joking aside, growing up was tough.
I can remember being in kindergarten and getting picked on at the playground. Ok, ok, I got beat up on the playground and went home with some bruises. When my "Pops" picked me up from school he could tell something was very wrong. After much prying, my grandfather got me to spill the beans of the event filled day at school. When I told him I had gotten beaten up, he stopped the truck in look into my little brown eyes and told me the next time I better hit back or else. Motivated by the inspirational speech my "Pops" had given me I went to school the next day looking for a fight. When the teacher said it was time to go outside and play, I knew it was really the time to unleash my revenge on the poor soul that thought it good to bruise my body! HAHAHAHAHAHA! So I went to recess and beat the snot out of the guy who had hit me the day before. This got me sent to the office, a 3 point sermon from my mom, and a hearty laugh from one proud grandfather.
Fast foward some 25 years. While eatting supper a couple of months back I was picking on my kids at supper, then we began to play their favorite game. "Let's fight Daddy!!!" So I make the statement to my then 4 year old son, Jared, "One day daddy will teach you how to really fight." To which my wife retorts, "Doesn't the Bible teach us to turn the other cheek?" I sat there in my seat dumb founded. How do I answer that? How do I justify my stance on fighting? What do I do? I came back with, "That's not the way I was taught." While this was true, it still didn't make sense in light of scripture. What was I suppose to do? I mean, I don't want Jared beating the mess out of some kid then coming to me one day and saying "Dad, you didn't teach us this way." So I did the only thing in knew to do, "I don't know what to say!"
Fast foward to last week. Jared turns his head at supper to show us a blood blister on top of his right ear. When asked about what happened he doesn't want to respond. When asked further he tells us a kid at school pulled him down by his ear. For all you holy people out their you might not want to read about my reaction. I was, for all accounts and purposes, pissed. All the emotions of me getting picked on ran back up and I thought to myself, I want to kill this kid. Taking a breath, we told Jared that next time this happened he had to tell his teacher.
I love my kids with everything that is inside of me. I firmly believe love for a child is the closes thing that shows us God's unconditonal love for us. It was hard not telling my son to go sock that kid in the eye ball. There are times in life where you read scripture and look at your life and realize that the two don't match up. Thank God for His Grace that covers all of our sins, but there are times when we pratically need to apply scripture to our lives. I John 4:20-21, 20If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. There are many times in scripture where you see Jesus saying something and the verse that follows it says, "this is a hard saying". You bet it is.
While I know I John 4:20-21 is true, it's really hard putting it into action. God knows this. He also know that many times we are unable to apply these things into our lives, which is why He calls us to rely on Him more than me. But man...THIS IS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT
(How could you hurt this kid)
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