I AM: Clean Week Two - Day Three: Clean Vs. Dirty
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Clean vs. Dirty. Us vs. Them. Good vs. Bad. These labels can be very defining in our culture and world. The VERSUS mentality creates epic drama, which can make for fantastic storylines in movies and books and television but what storyline does it create in our lives? Does that add to the culture of shame? Does that add to the dirty belief system? If we are now seeing ourselves how God sees us and seeing others how God sees them, then it’s no longer one against the other.
It’s no longer VERSUS because we all find ourselves in His VERSES.
Fill in the blanks for the VERSE we’ve been focused on the past few days:
“This ___________________ _______ ______ comes through ________ in Jesus Christ to _____ ______ ______________. There is ____ ________________, for ____ ________ _____________ and fall short of the glory of God, and are ______________ ____________ by his grace ____________ ______ ____________________ that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22-24
How do we flip the script on the VERSUS drama? I believe that empathy is a powerful tool at fighting off the VERSUS storyline. Empathy is defined like this; “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” (Google Dictionary)
Empathy has been a huge part of my healing; I’ve had to work on developing empathy because it was non-existent in my life. I was good, they were bad, they made me dirty. I would compare my story to others. When people would complain about their lives, I would be annoyed because I felt like I had it so much worse, finding myself in a VERSUS mentality within my own community of people suffering from trauma. I’d look at people I thought had it great and was frustrated as to why them and not me. In my group therapy, we worked on developing empathy by listening to one another’s stories and not allowing our minds to drift away; we learned to stay focused while listening, then find things that we could relate to. Even if the stories are different, there’s always a feeling or a circumstance that you can relate to. So, I worked on it and worked on it.
As I was developing these empathy skills, I happened to be invited on a trip to Israel/Palestine. I was going there to see VERSUS between people groups, to see VERSUS in religions and VERSUS in thought processes. And my world was rocked by what I saw. As I sat in Bethany above Lazarus’s tomb staring at the perimeter wall that is built around Palestine, I felt…. empathy. In the past, Israel has been so hurt as a people group that they have built a wall to protect themselves from ever being hurt again. I can empathize with that, I can relate to that, I have built walls to protect myself from getting hurt again! I can move pretty quickly into a me vs. the world epic movie drama...coming in theaters this Fall…
Jaime vs. The Judgers, Jaime vs. The Abusers, Jaime vs. Her Ex, …walls, walls, walls, protect, protect, protect.
I heard and saw what protection looks like in another country, the walls, the acts of violence. It can be easy to think that’s a far away battle in another land, but I was challenged to look at my life at home and look inside my heart to see what protection looks like for me. I would encourage you to do the same.
What does protection look like for you? What do those walls look like for you? When we have conflicting religious and political views, different thought processes and ways of doing things we can find ourselves in a VERSUS moment with others. Do you seek to understand or just be understood?
I’m in a co-parenting situation that is very challenging and when conflict arises what does my reaction look like? What and who does it reflect? Am I silent? Am I shaming? Am I violent? No…I’m not literally shooting rockets at people when I’m upset or when conflict happens like happens in the Middle East.
But what are my rockets I use? What are yours? What are my acts of violence? Could my words, my tone, and my body language be my acts of violence? Are yours? Do my actions make me feel dirty or clean? Do my actions tell others they are dirty or clean?
While in Jerusalem I got a tattoo of an olive branch, it’s on my wrist and in the direction of it being handed to me. I believe Christ has extended an ability for me to have peace. Now with peace at my hands, I now can extend it to others.
Is it easy, no. Worth it?
“So then, let us pursue with enthusiasm the things which make for peace and the building up of one another things which lead to spiritual growth.”
Romans 14:19 Amplified Version
YES!
Can we learn to empathize? YES!
If we do, I believe that will enable us to have peace and be peacemakers. No more VERSUS because we see everyone in His VERSES.
As we journey through empathy and peacemaking, let’s embark on creating a new story. Let’s lean into the VERSES that can shape, create and define our story.
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:12-17
Lord, this is our prayer. As we seek to see ourselves as You see us, and see others as You see them, let empathy guide the way. We pray for salvation and redemption for every lost person who doesn’t know You, and we are so thankful for that salvation and redemption that we call our own. We pray that in our world, an ability to see, hear, understand, care and empathize with one another would be the new story line that defines who we are and how we care for one another. That peace would come to our hearts, our lives and our world, In Jesus name. Amen.