The Letter

Judging others is an action God reserves for Himself yet we all battle our own opinions of others.  Each person responds differently to situations since no two people are alike.  While a psychologist may consider what is to be normal behavior he/she fails to realize that each person has his own normal.  It’s also true that each person’s background and experiences in life are different. 

A letter was written long ago by a mother in law to her son and daughter in law.  This mother in law would send regular letters and the family would eagerly await the encouraging words she would write.  Each family member knew there would be something said that was complimentary about them.  This mother in law was a Sunday School teacher and an encourager.  She was a gifted cook and one who loved to hug. 

The letter came one day to the family but it was not passed around like usual.  It sat on papa’s desk.  One by one each child read it.  While there was a sincere compliment to most of the children in her letter there was a cruel disappointment to the last child.  She explained that compliments had to be made to that child in order for him to feel he measured up. 

While all the other compliments were sincere about the other children’s accomplishments and talents the child receiving the token compliment was crushed.  It left him with a feeling that no achievement or compliment ever made was sincere.

This mother in law finally passed away.  She was saved and she offered a lot to the community but the grandson who needed her the most was left with a bag of mixed emotions he carried with him for life.

We have all met people we try to compliment and they give a retort.  They don’t know what to make of a compliment and see it as an insult.  If we tell a lady she has a pretty dress and she retorts that her shoes do not matter it should be a sign to us that she is a hurting person.

How do we deal with one who is carrying such a weight of rejection on their shoulders?  It’s difficult to know how to approach such a person but we cannot leave them out.  We cannot gossip about them or it will make things worse.  The best thing to do is prayer and to keep an unchanging attitude toward them.  A person who is dealing with these hardships is looking for consistency, honesty and truth.  They are looking for sincere acceptance and it takes a long long time to earn the trust of one who is battling rejection.

They may never tell us what’s going on with them but God knows.  As Christians we are to consider each withdrawn person as one God loves and one God gifts to serve an important purpose in life.  Before judging or forming an opinion we must first consider the letter.  We never know what was written in a letter to them.  We may or we may not learn about the baggage they carry but one thing is for certain, the person who wrote the letter has lost the value of their religion.

James 1:26  Living Bible

Anyone who says he is a Christian but doesn’t control his sharp tongue is just fooling himself, and his religion isn’t worth much.