There was a person in our world who brought Denalyn and me a lot of stress. She would call in the middle of the night. She was demanding and ruthless. She screamed at us in public. When she wanted something, she wanted it immediately, and she wanted it exclusively from us.
But we never asked her to leave us alone. We never told her to bug someone else. We never tried to get even.
After all, she was only a few months old.
It was easy for us to forgive our infant daughter's behavior because we knew she didn't know better.
Now, there is a world of difference between an innocent child and a deliberate destroyer. But there is still a point to my story: the way to handle a person's behavior is to understand the cause of it. One way to deal with people's peculiarities is to try to understand why they are peculiar.
Jesus knew Judas had been seduced by a powerful foe. He was aware of the wiles of Satan's whispers (he had just heard them himself). He knew how hard it was for Judas to do what was right.
He didn't justify what Judas did. He didn't minimize the deed. Nor did he release Judas from his choice. But he did look eye to eye at his betrayer and try to understand.
As long as you hate your enemy, a jail door is closed, and a prisoner is taken. But when you try to understand and release your foe from your hatred, then the prisoner is released, and that prisoner is you.
By: Max Lucado
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