Does rejection free you from responsibility?
God is my witness how I yearn for you (all) with the affection of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:8
The short answer is, ‘no.’ We want to think that once someone has hurt us in some way, the solution is to distance ourselves from that individual. While this may be necessary, if even for a short time, God is always looking at our heart, and with that in mind, our hearts can never ‘hate’ those who have wronged us, cp Jesus’ instructions from Matthew 5:43-48.
We’ve all heard that ‘hurt people, hurt people.’ The pain they contain is the pain they pour out on others, and until those wounds are healed, the sore spots respond when touched. Any pain I don’t allow to righteously transform me, I transfer to others.’
We must always be careful about aligning ourselves to cultural norms and not holding Kingdom values. God has a way to abundant life which can only be found as we submit to His divine order and obey His words.
We come into the kingdom from varying experiences, requiring degrees of change and growth, but all with the one intent of growing up into Him, so that we may be found perfect, whole, with nothing broken, nothing missing. Only by this can we accurately and righteously display His nature.
The Spirit is willing, Jesus said, but the flesh is weak; pray so you don’t enter into temptation. Temptation comes to every individual. How easy it is to hold expectations of others that may or may not be righteous in the sight of God, but when they are not fulfilled, we consider duties failed. Our responsibility is to align in agreement with Our Father's perception and understanding in the matter. Prayer strengthens the heart and will.
So I ask again, does rejection free us from responsibility?
We all have been taught to love ‘even as’ we have been loved’. Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us.’ Weymouth’s translation highlights forgiveness as ‘failed in duty’.
Romans tells us to ‘owe no man anything but to love.’ Our duty then becomes keeping ourselves in the love of God towards one another. The Apostle Paul gave us his example when he wrote, ‘The more I love, the less I am loved,’ 2 Cor. 12:15. Though his love was not reciprocated, he was still willing to spend and be spent for another’s well-being.
His motivation for prayer from Philippians 1 vs 8: “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you (all) with the affection of Christ Jesus” shows the strong foundation of his prayers for others.
The ‘yearn’ looks and longs for restoration and reconciliation. Not one of us can separate ourselves from a God-ordained relationship without first separation from God.
Rejection in life comes to all of us. We’ve all experienced the pain rejection brings, but as Christians, we keep our hope in God, refusing to allow others' actions to dictate our responses. As we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of our flesh. Our words will not divide or dishonour but the love we hold will cover a multitude of sins.
How else could Jesus face the multitudes who cried ‘crucify him’ and offer so willingly his life for our redemption? Only by holding a love that surpasses knowledge and being filled with the fullness of God.
Help us Jesus!