| Hostile Feelings Are Robbers -- #20 Christians Need Motivation Too |
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Quotation: “Do no harm to anyone, do not think anything bad in your heart towards anyone. Do not have hostile feelings towards anyone and do not let dislike dominate your heart. Encourage yourself with this thought, ‘Affliction lasts but a short time, while peace is forever.’” –Abba Moses the Black Man
Motivation In Action: Moses, who was known as ”the Robber” or “the Black Man,” was a released slave who lived as a robber in Egypt. Late in his life he encountered Jesus Christ and turned his life around. From then on he lived as a monk and a priest in the deserts of Egypt and Palestine. There are several quotations by him and stories about him in the book: "Sayings Of The Desert Fathers."
If a hardened robber can find great personal peace and joy, so can we. Abba Moses learned a powerful secret, “do not let dislike dominate your heart.” Dislike is a disturbing distraction. It is so easy to focus on people or things that we dislike and thus miss all the wonderful beauty and blessings around us.
Hostile feelings are robbers that steal and disrupt our peace. Our own hostile feelings are our enemies, not other people or things.
We can begin to eliminate hostile feelings from our heart by refusing to think bad thoughts about people. No matter what bad things someone has done or said, we can choose to believe that they acted out of their pain or their ignorance. This will enable us to think compassionate thoughts about them, which will lead us to feelings of compassion rather than hostility.
We can encourage ourself by remembering that any affliction people have caused us is only temporary, while our inner peace — our victory over hostility — is long lasting. Thanks Moses for your great example and your powerful words!
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