The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Luke 10:25-28, “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying,

‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’

26 “And He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?’

27 “And he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor

as yourself.’

28 “And He said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’”

If you believe the news – and this part, I do believe – there is a lot of bullying going on,

especially in the public schools. There are different kinds of bullying, but none of it is

productive, except to anger others and drive them to hate instead of love.

The lawyer in the verses above was something of a bully in his time. The word “test,”

translated “tempt” in the King James version of the Bible means “to test with the hope

that the one tested will not pass the test.” In other words, it means a “trap.” The lawyer

was not sincere; he was “showing off” in the effort to trap Jesus. Jesus, on the other

hand, did not set a trap for the lawyer. Instead He asked a question, enabling the man

to get the answer without confrontation.

Jesus knew the lawyer was not sincere in asking his question. Nevertheless, Jesus

showed love, which the lawyer was not suspecting. This is the true method of answering

a bully. They always know how to provoke a fight; but they don’t know how to deal with

sincere love. Only recently, I heard of a man who was harshly provoked by a man who

was his boss in a hospital. The boss gave him the worst jobs to do and did everything

he could to harass him. The man, however, just went about doing what he was told

and never complained. Over time, the boss came to know Jesus Christ, and he said it

was the man’s attitude of love that he could not overcome and that eventually brought

him to faith in Christ.

Love those bullies! Don’t get mad; don’t try to get even! Just love them like Jesus loves

you. Love works every time.

We pray lovingly for you every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”