Examples To Live By

I saw the video.
A French fan was distraught that his team lost to Portugal.
They call it football.
We call it soccer.

What was displayed in the video was compassion or hesed, using a Hebrew word.
A young boy who was a Portugal fan, saw that a French fan was upset.
He walked up to him and touched his arm and said a few words.
The distraught man was touched by the boy’s kindness.

He hugged the boy, and gave him a kiss on top of the hat he was wearing.
The little boy waited until the distraught fan was out of sight before he continued to celebrate.
Out of respect for the feelings of another, he waited.
In his compassion, he practiced self control.

I was moved.
I thought about how this should be the norm.
However, in light of recent events, it seems to be far from it.
We have to get back to decency.

Watch the video here.

Two sides of an issue.
One supported the winning team.
One supported the team that lost.
Each had respect for the other.

It seems like this is the way it should be.
Respecting another person simply because we are all in this world together.
Differing in our opinions but loving each other as fellow human beings created in God’s image.
When did we lose that common courtesy?

How we need to go back to playground etiquette.
Wait your turn.
Don’t be mean to another person.
Play nice.

It seems so simple but in this society it is profound.
Playground etiquette seems to have been forgotten.
We seem to take a Darwinian attitude instead.
We seem to live by survival of the fittest.

That is not the way to get along.
That is not God’s way.
Who determines who the fittest really is?
Who determines the ones to whom we should extend compassion?

Leaders talk about changing things.
They try to change programs or invent new ones.
They fail to see that it is the heart that needs to be changed.
Heart changing is tricky business.

Heart changing is God’s business.

Guns and violence are prevalent in most news reports.
No one ever says the word that is the over arching cause of the problem.
We can say it is race relations or that we are misunderstood.
That may be true but the root problem is sin.

We are all sinners in need of a Savior.
We are all sinners who need to be saved by grace.
Amazing grace that God extends to those who know that they are sinners and fall short.
No one can be righteous on their own.

Our righteousness may last a few minutes, or a few days, but it will not last.
Our pull-up-our-own-bootstraps righteousness is as flimsy as a gossamer thread.
We need a Rock to stand upon, an Anchor, a Cornerstone for our foundation.
The answer to our sin problem is the Lord Jesus.

Only in Him and through Him can we really get along.
Only because of Him can we ever show compassion to one another.
Because of His death and resurrection, we know that we stand as equals at the foot of the cross.
At the cross there is no color but red: the color of the Blood He shed for us.

I happened to see another video that shocked me because it was so foreign to me.
Robert F. Kennedy was a New York senator when Martin Luther King was shot and killed.
It was 1968 and I would have been nine years old.
Despite the misgivings of others, Kennedy insisted that he would tell the people himself.

Local police warned him that they would not be able to provide protection if the people rioted.
Robert Kennedy insisted.
His speech was given on the back of a flatbed truck.
He spoke from his heart.

What astounded me was the reaction of the people.
They were just given the most horrific news and after a few audible gasps, they were silent.
They were respectful.
They were peaceful.

You could have heard a pin drop.
There were no snipers in the crowd ready to gun him down.
There were no protests in the street.
There was a sense of unity knowing that they were all in this together.

Although all major cities had riots.
Indianapolis, where the speech was given, remained calm.
Sixty-three days later, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated.
But for those moments, America got a glimpse of what was possible.

Dr. Brian H.Williams is a trauma surgeon at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Williams was on duty the night that five Dallas police officers were gunned down.
He spoke honestly.
His words went viral on social media.

This is much more complicated for me personally. There’s this dichotomy where I’m standing with law enforcement, but I also personally feel that angst that comes when you cross the path of an officer in uniform and you’re fearing for your safety. I’ve been there, and I understand that. (Dr. Brian H. Williams)

As a father of a five-year-old daughter, Dr. Williams lives intentionally.
He knows that his daughter is watching when he picks up an officer’s lunch tab.
He knows that his daughter is watching when he buys an officer an ice cream cone.
Despite his own background, the violence and disrespect is stopping with him.

Can we use these three examples in our own lives?
Can we show compassion to one another from the heart?
Can we respectfully listen without argument or violence and really hear what someone has to say?
Can we live intentionally despite our backgrounds and presuppositions?

Only through the Lord Jesus can we ever begin to heal.
Only through the Lord Jesus can the necessary surgery be done on our hearts.
Only because we have a Savior who experienced everything we experience is this possible.
We can and we must see other people through HIS eyes.

There is no color but red: the blood He shed for our sins.
No program will solve our issues.
Only a heart change will turn the tide.
It can begin and it must begin with me and you.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17,18,21)