JustifiedIhe Atụ

Remember the last time you were hurt? How did you want to respond? Even though we tend to hurt others often, there's always this inner desire to get even or, worse, to escalate things even further. Depending on what happens, we might think "Well, I'll show you!" before we do something drastic. But Jesus shows us things don't have to be like that. There's another way for us to live.

We may think of Jesus as a guy who got along with everyone — especially since he was God's son and all — but that couldn't be further from the truth. Jesus had lots of enemies, and a lot of people with power and religious authority didn't like what he was teaching. Eventually, their anger started to turn into something much more sinister as they started to plan Jesus' murder. But in a conversation with one of these religious leaders, Jesus said he didn't come to condemn the world, but to rescue it.

Even though these people were allowing their anger to escalate the situation, Jesus didn't match their energy. As they grew more and more angry, Jesus became more and more gracious. He offered them grace and kindness, and he offers us the same things today. Jesus shows us it's possible for our anger to lead us to grace. When we ask God to help us, repeat God's words about grace, and pray authentically, we allow ourselves to remember the grace God has shown to us. Then, even when you're angry, you can still show grace.