I never go shopping on Black Friday. I can’t take the crowds. Most people seem to have fun and may chat as they meander through the stores. I have trouble watching people who are on a mission or look as if they will be condemned to prison unless they find the best deal.
This morning I watched the news and my heart broke. A man was killed over an early morning black Friday parking space. A child will look in a casket and wonder why Dad isn’t coming home simply because he got there first. Every Christmas from now on will have a scar. Every black Friday will bring tears. Every present will feel strange.
It was only moments later when the newscaster shook her head and announced another black Friday shooting.
I wondered what gift was so important that someone was willing to sacrifice an innocent life. I haven’t written much since the election. The violence in this country has ripped at my heart. The violence isn’t caused by social issues or even our freedom. It isn’t about politics or the economy.
Violence is a result of the trajectory of a personal life. Yes, there is always an innocent (or partially innocent) person, but he/she is the victim of someone whose path has brought them to a place where they can accept the worst kind of violence.
Would I get violent with someone who grabbed my grand-daughter and tried to run away with her? Absolutely! But that kind of violence is called protection. So much of the violence we see today isn’t necessary. It’s a person who has decided that his/her way is right and no one else matters. There can be no compromise, no discussion, no working together. “Do it my way or I will get violent. Do it my way or I will destroy you, your business, your home and your life.” That type of personality is nothing more than a bully, thug, spoiled brat, deeply evil, predator, or a dictator.
A parent has to discipline in order to help a child grow beyond that type of animalistic behavior. A parent has to replace selfishness and infantile tantrums with compassion and kindness. When that’s not accomplished the young adult (and sometimes even young child) will become violent and dangerous.
What’s the solution? It’s the best Black Friday deal of all! ATTENTION ALL SHOPPERS – DEAL OF A LIFETIME!
Take all your faults (Be honest about them – Don’t hide them) and lay them at the cross and beg God for forgiveness.
Wait Debbie! I haven’t been violent. I didn’t do this. Why me?
The only way to rid this country of violent behavior is for all of us who are not violent to ask God to make us even better so we can influence those who are violent. As our numbers grow, the country changes. As each of us become better people, our world becomes better. Mr. Trump, Ms. Clinton, Apple computers, School principles, pastors, and Steven Hawkins – none of these personalities can give us a formula to make the American public safer or better. This world only becomes better if “We The People” are better.
You can’t legislate, pay for, teach, or demand peace. Peace only comes when people look around at others and decide with compassion that they have no ill will toward those around them. And that only happens when we lay our own faults at the cross. When we repent and ask God to forgive us, he fills the void in our hearts with His love. The great act of being forgiven helps us to forgive others. Then Jesus can gently mold and make us into his image.
His brand of love is described in 1 Corinthians 13. If your heart is not completely on board with that kind of love – you need to repent. Every day I beg God to change me. Just about the time I think I’ve got it – something happens and I lose my temper. I fuss about this or that. I feel sorry for myself. I selfishly don’t want to serve – I want to be first. I’m tired and I snap at someone. Before I know it, God needs to shine his spotlight on the dark areas of my heart.
I beg for forgiveness A-gain!
I promise to be better A-gain.
I hate my actions A-gain.
Sigh….I wonder if God is tired of me A-gain.
As I pray I realize that I may not be there yet, but I have made some progress.
The best deal of Black Friday (and every day of the year) is to accept the life long goal of striving to live like Jesus and incorporate the love chapter of I Corinthians 13 into your life.
Why is that the best deal of your life?
God’s love will make your relationships better. Your work situations will be better. Your outlook on life will be better. Your children will be better and they will respect you more. You will have a better relationship with Jesus. Depression and despair will dissipate. People will seek you out and want to be with you.
Try it! It works. Yes, you have to practice it and it has to become second nature to you. But I guarantee if you work at it – it will change your life. Best deal ever! Make it a Christmas present for yourself and make sure you offer it to your family as well.
I Corinthians 13 (NIV)
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.