"No, I'm not necessarily surprised He loved Judas. He loved each one of us. And we must remember what He told people: that we must love each other as He loved people."
The disciples' lives were completely transformed by what they saw in Jesus. They watched Him answer beggars, hold little ones and heal the blind. But what impacted them much more was what they saw in Him after the resurrection - the forgiveness and love following your betrayal and turning away, the joy with which often He showed them your scars in His arms and side (see Luke 24: 39) along with the camaraderie displayed as He cooked breakfast to deal with on the beach after having a long night of toil (see John 21: 9).
I believe that the only real reason the disciples were able to impact their world in such a great way and tolerate such intense persecution was as a result of unfailing love they witnessed in Jesus. It was this love that enabled Stephen to suffer and die for the Lord in Acts 7, crying out for his persecutors in the same way Jesus did, saying, "Lord, do not charge them with that sin" (Acts 7: 60). "Love covers numerous sins"(1 Peter 4: 8, NIV).
Only as we behold Christ, aware of His presence and remembering the final love He always displayed, can we begin to reflect His adore to those around us.Heres the second string that a relational puppet has, poor self-esteem. Norwood writes that most relational puppets have a weak self-image because they only see themselves the way the controller sees them. Okay, he sees me this way, she sees me this way, whatever they tell me, thats what Ill do, thats who I am. I know of one lady whos been with a corporation for 15 years and her boss is this macho guy who likes to hunt and fish. This lady, a very talented lady, likes sewing and shopping for antiques. She would never tell him that, though. Suddenly, her hobbies have become hunting and fishing. Now, thats find if shes into that, but she doesnt have a clue about it. She talks like she knows about it in front of her superior. Ive seen this go and Ive sat back and shook my head. Youre talking about a puppet. Come on! Lets cut the strings. Lets cut the strings.
.
K.P Yohannan says that the third string relational puppets have controlling them is the string of being a pleaser. I used to love Johnny Carson because I would get into Ed McMahon. Ed McMahon sat there on the couch and he would give Johnny a tin laugh on anything that borderlined funny, Ha! Ha! Right! Yes! Hes the ultimate please, isnt he? Do we have some pleasers here? Dont want to make waves, dont want to challenge. We dont want to obey the Bible where it says, speak the truth in love. We want to please everyone and we end up doing the opposite of what Gods Word says. We are man-pleasers instead of God-pleasers. Were pleasers. Weve got to please.
