This time of year, the minds of many are occupied with what gifts they will give and receive. Consider what we give to others in how we treat them every day and how the treatment we receive may be influenced by it. Jesus said, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:37-38). We ordinarily will receive reciprocal treatment from others. If I am willing to give others the benefit of the doubt—believing and hoping all things (1 Corinthians 13:7)—then it is much more likely they will give me the benefit of the doubt. If I am severely critical of others, they are more likely to criticize me. Of course, there are some people who will be malicious no matter how well we treat them. Jesus was persecuted to the point of crucifixion, yet no one ever treated others with more love. Our best option then is to follow His example to choose to do good in spite of the evil done to us (Romans 12:14, 17, 20-21). But generally speaking people will respond in kind to the way we treat them.
A common pitfall is to highlight perceived faults in others without considering one’s own errors. Eli saw Hannah silently moving her mouth (1 Samuel 1:13). He thought she was drunk and rebuked her (1 Samuel 1:14). She asked that he not deem her a “daughter of Belial” and explained that she was not drunk, but rather pouring out her soul to the Lord in prayer (1 Samuel 1:15). Meanwhile, Eli’s own sons were wicked; they were “sons of Belial” (1 Samuel 2:12). While he outwardly may have told them to stop, in reality Eli benefited from their wickedness and honored his sons above the Lord (1 Samuel 2:29). He was so quick to surmise that Hannah must be sinning when she wasn’t while he dismissed sin in his own family.
Ahab called Elijah a troubler of Israel (1 Kings 18:17). In reality, it was the sinful idolatry Ahab and Jezebel had introduced in Israel that caused God to send Elijah and other faithful prophets with denouncements and to withhold rain from Israel. If Ahab and Jezebel would have repented of their wickedness, God would have relented of the trouble He was allowing Israel to face.
The Pharisees thought the man born blind was born in sins and had no right to correct them; they threw him out of the synagogue (John 9:34). But the man had not been born in sins; his blindness was not due to sin but rather as an opportunity for God to reveal His work (John 9:3). The Pharisees thought they were so much better than other men, and would brag to God about it (Luke 18:11-12). The blind man believed on Jesus the Son of God, but because the Pharisees were too spiritually blind to see the conclusion to which the miraculous evidence right before them pointed, they rejected Jesus and remained in their sins (John 9:39-41).
So, give mercy to others in the way you interact with others. It may come back to you. Ultimately, God will judge us according to the way we treat others, “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (James 2:13; cf. Matthew 5:7).
-Mark Day
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