Brad Brandon is one of my best friends. He has one of the most compelling walks with Christ that I’ve ever seen! I think you’ll enjoy some of his wisdom in this post and you can follow Brad on Twitter @BradBrandon.

When trouble knocks at our door, every one of us has a choice: Are we going to give people what they deserve or are we going to show them the love of God?

 Philemon 1:6 says, “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.”

Philemon here was in quite the predicament and had a choice.  One of his slaves stole from him and took off on the run.  After escaping, the slave, Onesimus, meets Paul and becomes a believer in Christ Jesus.  Now Onesimus is going back to his owner, Philemon, with this letter from Paul asking Philemon to treat Onesimus like a brother and not like a slave that under the law deserves to die.  Philemon is a Christian but now has a choice of how to respond in this difficult situation.  Will he give Onesimus the punishment he deserves? …or will he allow his faith in God to shine through by forgiving Onesimus and elevating him to a position of a brother saved by the same grace and mercy in Christ Jesus?

The instructions that Paul writes in Philemon 1:6 is a guide to difficult situations.  His prayer for us during these tough moments is that the faith that exists within our minds would produce outward actions or fruit that would identify to others that we are Christians living by the standard of love.  Paul’s desire is that not only would others experience God’s love when they don’t deserve it but we also would grow in the love and understanding of the love God showed us while we were yet still sinners.  It’s the “WWJD?” standard taken beyond just thinking about what would Jesus do and living out what Jesus would do so that the world would see a living, active faith and praise God for His love that has manifested itself in this world through us.

So now what are we going to choose?  I know I struggle with wanting to give people what they deserve, to get even sometimes, to defend my ‘rights’, to overreact out of emotions, to treat them as they treated me… these are all ‘normal’ reactions from the world’s perspective but now we have a choice to respond in love just as God responded to us in love when we hurt Him by living our own way.  So make a choice to forgive today and give God your hurt and your pain. Allow His love to heal your heart and then go show His love to others.  Your life and this world will never be the same again!  Praise Jesus!!