Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
Have you ever been chewed out by a higher-ranking soldier and left the scene saying "Wow, he/she is an a**?" When we have that sort of response, we are really just dehumanizing that person in order to cope with our own pain and embarrassment. SSG Gumby may have a family who knows him to be a very different person than the one you just dismissed. He may be having a particularly bad day. Perhaps he is going through the death of a family member, or a divorce, or financial ruin.
Ultimately, we must look to the heart of a person--a person created in the image of God with dignity, hopes, dreams, and the struggle of living with a broken heart in a broken world. And how can we do any less? Our hearts are laid bare before our omniscient (all-knowing) God. He created us and knows our hearts even better than we do. This would mean our death, as the deepest inclinations of our hearts are to rebel against God, but in Jesus Christ, we are not only known down to our deepest thoughts, but our loved to that extent as well. In Christ, God looks to the rebel heart with love, and as Christians, we can do no less.
Psalm 139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
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