He came to his
hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue,
so that they were
astounded and said,
“Where did this man get this wisdom and these
deeds of power?
Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?
. . . Where then
did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to
them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country
and in their
own house.” - From Matthew 13
I have found over recent years that not everyone is happy for you when
you change your life for the better. Not
everyone wants to hear that you’re a new believer or a more devout believer in
God. Not everyone wants to know that you’ve
changed at all, in any way.
The reactions from family and friends
can come from fear that they’ll lose you, that they’ll lose the person they
knew, that you won’t be the same (perhaps raucous) party lover that you’ve
always been. They may even be jealous
that you’ve grown – and they have not. Some
may feel envious of your spiritual life, but they won’t use this feeling to
change their own spiritual lives but to downplay and even insult yours.
The latter is how I see the hometown
people of Jesus too, from the reading above.
Their remarks are hurtful and belittling. Their disbelief in the capabilities of their
neighbor, Jesus, goes to show that we never know what is going on within
another person’s heart and life. We
never know the various gifts that others humbly possess, like Jesus had and
offered to many.
So how do we get around these people
who unwittingly try to tempt us away from growing in the knowledge and love of
God? The first thing I suggest is to
pray for them. Pray for a change of
heart within them. Our prayers may not
visibly change them, but these kinds of prayers will certainly change us
and give us strength when we’re around them.
And sometimes we just have to let go of some people. With a deeper faith, we may find that some
people, even family members, can be toxic for our souls as well as our
minds. But we don’t want to close the
door on them, because I think when people are truly bothered by something
important that we’re doing, it can possibly mean that they see a need in
themselves. Spiritually speaking they
may feel they’re being nudged by God too and really don’t know what to do with
those feelings. We may be the impetus
they need to step out in faith. The Holy
Spirit may be using us to reach them.
When I have faced this same type of
situation more than once, unfortunately, I was hurt. But I chose to remember that I am in good
company. I am in the BEST of company. And that’s the heart of the matter. 💙
