Often, the people with the greatest potential to hurt us, are the people that we love most in this world, and if we are too quick to jump to conclusions and allow our emotions to rule a situation, we often say or do things we may later regret.
You know what happens then? You just became their villain. Like I said, every story has a villain. And you just filled their role.
I have been there. I have played both victim and villain. It doesn’t have to be intentional to suddenly find yourself in those rolls, and they are both equally heartbreaking, practically interchangeable rolls.
You may not always have a say in whether or not you get hurt, but you don’t have to be victim or villain in your own story.
What does it mean to have the same attitude as Jesus? There’s a lot of material for this, but right here in Philippians 2, it goes on to say, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!” -Philippians 2:6-8
Jesus became one of us. And oh, how many villains He had! People slandered His name and His family. He had traitors and liars in His midst. He was persecuted both verbally and physically…too death! The devil, himself, tried to take Him down!
He put Himself in our shoes, and died right next to a common thief.
He did not play victim. He did not curse them. He did not discard them from His life. In fact, He did quite the opposite. He loved them and asked God to forgive them.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” ~Luke 23:34
No one is asking you to be nailed to a cross or sacrifice your life for your villains. That has already been done.
But you don’t have to be a victim. Most of us will never face anything as hard as the persecution of Jesus on that cross, thank God! Maybe we can try to extend a little grace and understanding to those who may seem undeserving.
Jesus did.
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