how do you deal with peculiar people?...

here is JESUS’ fifth beatitude. matthew 5.7 (ph), happy are the merciful, for they will have mercy shown to them!

so how do i know if i'm showing mercy? if you give it you get it. if you don't give it, you don't get it.

one way to know is if i'm merciful, i will be patient with those who are peculiar.

i believe that in every life some weirdos must fall. maybe their elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, a good egg but a little cracked. how do you handle those kinds of obnoxious people? what does the bible say?

i thessalonians 5.14 (ms), gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. be patient with each person.

are you patient with everyone? the bible says if i'm merciful, i'll be patient with those who are peculiar.

so how can you be patient with those who are peculiar? you learn their background. when you understand where a person comes from, you stop saying, "look how far they've got to go, " and start saying, "look how far they've come!" that makes you a little more patient.

you look beneath the external behavior and look at the internal pain. because behind every peculiar behavior there's loneliness, hurt, depression, or a kind of anxiety that GOD says we need to look at.

romans 15.7 (nlt) says, accept each other just as CHRIST has accepted you.

merciful people are accepting people. they're not quick to criticize, to judge. they realize that hurtful people are hunting people.

just a thought from the front porch…