by Elder Mike Chon

One not so wise man said “Life would be a lot easier if you didn’t have to work with people.” Yes, at times people can make life more difficult and inconvenient. From disputes and conflicts, to broken families, to even wars, people have caused enough damage to others that we would rather be alone than have to work with others. Now with the advances in technology you actually can live in a virtual world where people only know each other by username and never have to talk or see who you are actually working with. Instead of asking how you are doing, you can just look at their social network site and find out what is going on in someone’s life. For the unbeliever, this type of life may actually be preferred. They don’t see a reason for having to interact with others especially if the “others” interfere with their life, with their desires, with their rights, with their opinions, with their feelings, with their kingdom. In a consumer-centered, self-idolizing, pleasure-driven world, nothing would be more offensive than for someone to disrupt their “world.” But for the one that is born again, and is a true follower of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we live in this life in a completely different way. We actually can find encouragement from others, even those that make life difficult.

Remember as believers we encourage others not just for encouragement sake, but for a purpose. It isn’t just to make someone feel good about themselves, but ultimately it is to encourage someone to love God and Christ more. When we look at life we must remember that we can be encouraged in situations that my not appear “good” but ultimately it is helping us to love Christ more. That is why in Matthew 5:10-11 Christ calls us “blessed” when we are persecuted and reviled against. Not only that, but Christ calls us in Matthew 5:44 to love our enemies and pray for them. We are not to look at others who may discourage us or even persecute us as a curse, but instead we are to see them as Christ sees them, as instruments that cause us to love Christ more. What a great blessing we have to be able to experience hardship from others so that it would cause us to love God more! How gracious God is to bring people into our lives that show us that we cannot love others unless we love God first? How loving of God to bring people into our lives that make life so difficult which helps us to love God more and love ourselves less? That is why the “others” in your life are a blessing.

I will have to use my children as an example again. My oldest son, who is three and a half years old, has the great blessing of learning patience and loving “others” everyday. Our 2 year old son is the “other” in his life who constantly takes away the toys that he is playing with, destroys the train tracks that he helped put together and destroys the blocks that he built. Not only that but he now has an 11 month old sister who follows the steps of the younger brother in taking toys away and destroying train tracks. What a blessing it is to have a younger brother and sister who helps you to daily practice patience and love toward others! Even though I know my oldest will disagree that he is blessed, where else would he learn these things if he didn’t have a younger brother and sister? Where would you learn what it means to love your enemies, to consider those that persecute you as a blessing, if those people are not placed in your lives? God is truly wise beyond our understanding to graciously bring people into our lives so that they will help us to love others as Christ loved us. May you not react toward “others” with frustrations or anger, but instead use every opportunity to learn and grow in your love for God and Christ. Only because Christ loved us first can we love Him and also love “others.”