You think you’re better than me

Who rules? O’Doyle rules! O’Doyle rules! O’Doyle rules! If you have no idea what I am talking about…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsNgRmsx-14

A family thought they had it best, sadly their run came to a tragic end. You could say, that’s not me. I never did anything like that. While it’s just a movie, there is enough bullying you have experience in one of three ways, as the bully, the bullied or the stand by guy (Person who just watches but doesn’t do anything about it). Who is at fault more, the bully or the one who stands by and doesn’t nothing about it? Either way, it’s still wrong.

What makes one wrong better then another one? Paul talks a lot in chapter 3 of Romans about sin and how we all sin. I am not perfect. I am not Jesus, yet I live my life for him. Christians have a tendency to struggle with different sins and yet are completely judgmental against other sins. We pick and choose what is the deeper sin. Some might say…

·         I might smoke but I never watch rated R movies
·         I get drunk once every while but I have never done drugs
·         I look at porn but I didn’t have sex before marriage
·         I lie and gossip but I always encourage people when I see them face to face

Hypocrisy can look different in someone else’s eyes. This is a point Paul brings up in Romans 3:19ish-20 (The Message), “And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.”

Just because you claim God and Jesus doesn’t mean you are perfect. Christians should never come across as perfect. One of the sad stories you hear is when a couple with kids goes to get divorced or live in a sham of a marriage and nobody has a clue. People are shocked and have no clue. Why? With all of the Sunday School, small groups, life groups, c groups and whatever else groups Church’s come up with, if you’re not honest, it doesn’t create true community. People put on a show that they have it all together, I noticed the one’s that think they have it all together are usually the opposite when people aren’t around.

There is a book for parents with young kids Everyone Poops, there could be one titled Everyone Sins. Paul makes sure we understand this from the greatest to the least, everyone sins. If you think you are better than anyone else, you are wrong. If you’re a Christian you are still a sinner. Shoot, Christians are attacked more because you know some things you do are sins.

Just like a bully, you can be wrong for being a bully and wrong for not doing anything to stop a bully. Generally, no one sin in greater than any other. You are not a greater person then your neighbor. So get of the judgmental horse and have a huge piece of humble pie. Rather than being so quick to judge others, what are ways you can improve as a person? Maybe it’s time to be honest with someone, or to quit judging and focus on getting something that is wrong with you right. You can’t expect others to improve when you aren’t even willing to improve yourself. You are a sinner just like everyone else, so there are still things in life you can improve. Don’t judge, just focus on what you can improve in.

Have a great day.

Being bullied

Bad stuff does happen.

It’s a fact we have to face many times.

Times when everything in life isn’t going the way we want and we wish/pray for things to change.

We just wish God would intervene and make things better.

I remembered being bullied in the sixth grade.

The guy wasn’t a jerk and if I ran into him today, I would be cool with him and have a normal conversation and even be friends with him, but in sixth grade he wasn’t a guy I wanted to spend time around.

He thought it was funny to punch  people in the chest, and when I would come off the bus in sixth grade, he would be there and mess with me.

I didn’t like it and often tried to ignore or move away from him.

It wasn’t fun to be around him.

Eventually things got better, but the first three months of sixth grade I spent hiding from him.

Sometimes even good people can do bad things or have the wrong intentions.

There was a guy in Acts named Saul.

Saul thought he was doing what God wanted him to do.

Saul thought Christians were a threat and tried killed to kill them or have them thrown into jail.

It sucked to be a Christian with Saul around and you wanted to stay away from him.

Saul was very far from knowing Christ.

Yet while making a mission of destroying Christians and the Church something changed.

This is some of Acts chapter 9 verses 3-6….

Saul was going to Damascus and was blinded by a light while hearing a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Saul asked who this was and the voice from the light said, “Jesus whom you are persecuting….Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do.”

When the light went away, it left Saul blind and he couldn’t eat or drink for three days.

God appeared to a disciple named Ananias and told him to go place hands on him so he could receive sight.

This freaked Ananias out.

He was supposed to go visit someone throwing his brothers and sisters in jail and having them murdered.

This sucks.

Ananias was told to trust in him and he had big plans for this person.

Ananias trusted God and went then helped Saul out.

Ananias knew he was going to a bully and God protected him.

Sometimes in life we face bullies, it’s not always pretty.

Yet God can be over the situation.

What is a bully in your life right now?

Are you hiding from it or trying to changed it?

Sometimes bad things happened in life and we have no way to change it or make it better.

Life would be so easy if we didn’t have to deal with the bad stuff and everything went great.

That is not how life works though.

Bad things and people do happen.

This is where we see how life can and will be.

Life isn’t always peachy.

But God can be there to for you to help you though the tough times just like he was there for Saul when blind and Ananias when going to see the Christian bully.

God can be there for you when you call and put your life into Jesus.

He can help you overcome the biggest bully in your life.

That is something everyone can have.

Have a great day.