World, you didn't do right by me

You see, there's this Irving Berlin song in the famous holiday movie White Christmas. 

A woman jilted in love (or so she thinks) croons a gorgeous contralto as she sweeps across the stage in her black taffeta gown with bejeweled back: "Love, you didn't do right by me..."

Recently, this scene came to mind as I examined my response to mistreatment by the world (Random, I know). As Christians, we're told to expect this. So why am I so wounded when those around me without Christ act like...well, like they don't have Christ? 

Cue "World, you didn't do right by me..." because I want to grasp an imaginary microphone and croon this line to my own pity party on continual replay. Not exactly the response Scripture teaches. So here's a grouping of truths about mistreatment and the Christian. Nothin' new here. They're very 'Sunday School.' But this week I've discovered they're exactly what I need. 

Expect this: 

They will persecute you Not a possibility. Or a high probability. It's an absolute surety. As I act on this driving, God-instilled, yearning to be transformed in Christ-likeness, I'm going to be persecuted in some form by the world. 

They will speak against you. Bible-reading, church-going, sacrificing-to-do-right you. And while falsely, all manner of evil, and revile are pretty general words, ain't none of 'em pretty. 

They will demand costly things. Like the boy in the famous children's book The Giving Tree, this world will demand costly things of you without payment or thanks. And what looks innocent and intriguing under Silverstein's pen, is quite another thing in real life. 

Do this: 

Do them good. Good as apparent and personal as the evil done to you. Bless them. As opposite of 'curse', it's verbal. Bless in every word you say to or about them. (brief pause as I ask God's forgiveness) Pray for them. And the context implies it's not imprecatory prayers. 

Offer the other cheek. Adrenaline is the fight or flight hormone. For me, it's not flight. So to stand still not resisting the evil but offering for it to continue? Wow. Give to them. Don't refuse. And give free. Do more than they require. Go 'two miles.' Exceed expectations. Even when it takes considerable time and energy. 

Attitude this: (I couldn't think of a better way to put it, ok?)

Love In return for hate. Love for enemies. Not a putting up with them. Not ignoring. Not a facade of good will (the world already does that quite well), but genuine love.

Rejoice No, even more than that: be exceeding glad. It's not something subtle or hidden. 

Hope for nothing in return. No thanks. No acknowledgment. No change in their behavior. No praise for doing the right thing. Hope for nothing. 

Obeying the 'do this' commands is outrageously challenging. But obeying with these attitudes? Absolutely impossible. So what's the hinge that swings open the door of possibility? What we believe.

Believe this: 

Your reward is great. My reward, like that of the persecuted prophets, sounds like a future thing in this passage. But what a reward! My Creator who knows my personality and loves is the one fashioning it. And He tells me it will be great in its extent. 

You will look like your Heavenly Father. I LOVE being identified as my parents' child by how I look or act. But to look like my Heavenly Father's child? Our greatest desire. 

Christ reviled not again. Suffered the full blast of the world's hatred without sinning. Kind to the unthankful and evil. By responding like Him, I become a clearer reflection of this perfectness and mercy. And the world is left saying, 'that must be a child of God.' 

You are blessed. Happy in the here and now. The highest possible good now. A quality of life rich and meaningful. 

All this requires faith that God is a rewarder of those who pursue Him. Faith that weighs what I can't see and finds it more than the persecution I certainly do see. Faith that I can respond correctly through Christ who strengthens. 

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I've never been so aware of the price of identifying with Christ in the everyday. More convinced of the necessity of it. More certain that without Him, I can do nothing good when mistreated because of it. But by faith I can acknowledge that the world 'done me wrong' and still rejoice. Great is my reward. And I am the child of my Father in Heaven.  

Beth G.