What purpose do we have for this life, if not but to serve God and serve others? I believe the latter is more important the former, since we shall also serve God for eternity.
Today at work, as my thoughts focused again on all the hurt and pain inflicted on me in past and recent times by those who are closest to me, I was reminded of the pain Jesus must have endured throughout His life. Not the physical pain of the crucifixion, but emotional pain as the ones He loved the most turned their backs on Him. He was not always well respected. And I'd wager that even some of those He helped eventually shunned Him. Yet He did not respond with indignation. He did not feel sorry for himself, nor pull Himself away emotionally to keep from being hurt again. He continued to love the people who spat on his face, who treated Him with contempt, or who were just too self-absorbed to realized what was needed of them. And He never demanded what was needed. His love and affection was never conditional. It was always about the other man, never about Him. And in that regard, I still have a long way to go.
Judas is always looked upon as the villain. But really, he was just a man who had a moment of weakness, and put himself before others. Before the Lord. We do that every day. Judas' real fault was that he didn't know how to make things right within himself again. To ask for forgiveness and change for the better. Instead he just gave up, and never made things right. Sadly, many of us do that far too often, too. I hope that I never become one of those people.
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