why not just be cheated?

Today we read in the One Year Bible from 1 Corinthians 6:7. Paul asks the Corinthians, "Why not just let yourself be cheated?" rather than take a fellow Christian to court and sue them.

That's a little different from the way people think today, isn't it? We live in a ridiculously litigious culture. And the idea of knowingly letting ourselves be cheated is so foreign to us, it's laughable.

But when you learn to live the way Paul is describing, it's very liberating. Lending money to those who need it without any expectation of repayment. Trusting people even when you know they might just betray you. Jesus did that, if you think about it, with Judas. Loving people even though you know it makes you vulnerable and will end in pain. After all, it's unlikely that you'll love someone and die at the exact same moment that they do. More likely one will pass away, leaving the other in pain.

Psychologists tell us that pain is more tolerable and manageable if we are in control of it. So when you realize that you're not going to get repaid, you're going to get hurt, and sometimes people are going to betray you, but you choose to do the right thing anyway, you're taking that control. You're ALLOWING them to hurt you. You're not being taken advantage of, because you're willingly giving what they're asking, free of charge.

When you step back and think about it, that's how God deals with each of us all day long. Loving us while we betray Him. Blessing us while we take it for granted. Giving us so many blessings with no expectation of repayment.

So let's be more like God, and give without strings attached.

Thank You, God, for teaching us how to give.