Don't Cut Them Out
I keep falling into this worldly mindset of cutting negative people out of my life.
When I find someone who angers me, challenges me, irritates me, etc. I cut them out. I find a reason to justify myself, and then I push them out the door. I have also been on the other end of this, and I know how much it hurts and how confusing it can be to get cut out of someone else's life. But, I have always seen it as a part of life that sucks and that’s that. But Jesus is working on me, deeply working on me, and he has shown me that this isn't the way things need/should be.
Cutting someone is not the answer - LOVE is the answer.
It’s like we think of a way to create drama in our lives without fully knowing that what we’re doing has life-long consequences. We pick a reason and we hold on to it and we keep this grudge about it and we take that anger to the grave with us. We try to justify our "cutting out" action with bogus reasons that make us feel better about ourselves, and that we think others will "understand" and find justifiable.
“They are always SO rude to me, I don’t need to put up with that.”
“This person is so negative all the time, I don’t want to be around them.”
“They said some shiz about me I didn’t like, so yeah no - not going there again.”
“This person hurt my feelings a couple times, and I don’t want to go through it again.”
I bet you’ve thought/said something along one of those lines a time or two. I know I have - I even cringed a little just typing them out because I literally had a couple of these thoughts TODAY. But friend, Jesus has made it clear to me that this is a real PROBLEM in our society.
Our society tells us that cutting negative people out is a good thing to do for OURSELVES - it can lead to a better, healthier mental life, cutting toxic people out can lead to more happiness. These things might have some truth to them - but it’s all superficial. We can all admit that deep down we feel sadness, pain, anger, and maybe even regret when we think about the individual(s) we “cut out.”
Let’s take a moment to admit that to ourselves right now.
What I don’t understand is why us humans feel the need to create this drama, feed on this drama, and cause pain in OTHER people’s lives by telling them they’re not accepted. Jesus doesn’t tell us to do that - our world does, the devil does.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Jesus tells us not to conform to this world, and yet we are doing exactly that. We are casting away the people who hurt us. The people who really irritate us. The people we just can’t seem to find forgiveness for. But friend, Jesus tells us to do exactly the opposite of casting them away - He tells us to LOVE everyone, even the difficult ones.
Luke 6:35-36 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be Merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are supposed to be living a life through and like HIM. We are supposed to be lifting others up, showing them the LOVE of God, and being a bridge between them and Jesus. Conforming to this world is serving the devil, not God. Seeking Him has brought a light to my heart - it has shown me how TWISTED and anti-religion the world has become and how showing love, grace, and forgiveness is GOOD even when it’s difficult to do.
Why are we allowing ourselves to conform to the twisted wickedness of this world? Why are we accepting the views of anti-love? Why are we letting evil win?
Seek Jesus. Pray for miracles. Love anyone and everyone around you.
Don’t cut them out - Don’t conform to this world.