LOVING THE PEOPLE YOU ARE STUCK WITH

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Christian writer Max Lucado tells about when he received a puppy he named Liz for a Christmas gift when he was a small boy. His mother and father made it clear that he was to be Liz's caretaker. He was to clean her little eating dish and open her can of puppy food. He was to supply her every need. He was glad to do it. But after a few days his feelings changed a bit. He didn't like those words, "your dog." Your dog in sickness and in health. For richer for poorer. In dryness and in wetness. That's when it occurred to him. "I am stuck with Liz." The courtship was over and the honeymoon had ended.

Such permanence can lead to panic--at least it did with Max. He had to answer some tough questions. Can I tolerate the same flat-nosed, hairy, hungry face every morning? (You wives know the feeling:) Am I going to be barked at until the day I die? Will she ever learn to clean up her own mess?"

Such are the questions we ask when we feel stuck with someone. There is a word for this condition--stuckititis.

Jesus Himself knew the feeling of being stuck with someone. For three years He ran with the same crew. By and large, He saw the same dozen or so faces around the table, around the campfire, around the clock.

It's one thing to be stuck with a puppy, but something else entirely to be stuck in a marriage or other human relationship.

The answer to stuckititis is to look at Jesus and to see His heart of forgiveness. The answer is found in the thirteenth chapter of John. Study that chapter and you will see that of all the times Jesus is seen bowing His knees, none is so precious as when He knelt before His disciples and washed their feet.


Any relationships in your world thirsty for mercy? Are there any who sit around your table who need to be assured of your grace?

(Adapted from Max Lucado's wonderful book, Just Like Jesus)