Christian simply means to be Christ-like.
Now, I may just be making something up but talking about others and dogging them out just doesn't seem very Christ-like to me. There are ways of handling things to where no feelings get hurt in the process and where kind words are used. If everyone would just remember that kindness is key...a lot more people would be a lot happier in the end!
- A rant from a 21 year old wife and soon to be mother who is sick of unkind words!
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
ReplyDeleteMohandas Gandhi
Dear Christina,
ReplyDeleteI don't know what happened to cause you to feel so poorly that you posted about this subject, and I'm so sorry, but I am so glad you brought up the subject.
It seems as we grow, we lose one of the earliest and simplest lessons taught by our caregivers: be nice to each other, don't say mean things, and don't hit. All of us sometimes hit with words, I know I do it, no matter how hard I try not to do so and more than I wish people to know! I try to ask the person whom I've hurt for forgiveness and show an act of kindness to them--whether they choose to forgive me is not for me to decide.
I think cruel, mean words hit the heart just as much as loving,
encouraging ones do.
I'm not trying to pretend to be some sort of 'holier than thou' martyr, but I learned this lesson from a childhood of abuse and several years of therapy. To me, it's easier to mend a broken lip or a black eye than to repair negative words. The physical wounds heal, the slanderous and cruel words do not fade so easily. When you hear awful things about yourself over and over from someone, you begin to believe them. And when you believe them, those who use words to hit have taken away a part of you that some people never completely get back.
Patricia
(I know this deals with a touchy matter, but if you see fit to post this, Christina, you have my permission to post the entire entry)