A scorner can scorn with ill intentions in mind.
A hater can hate knowing their venom will kill.
But a friend and a loved one can be the best of all
They know how to connect and be just enough.
A light touch. It means so much.
I remember someone who had a right to be mad, angry, upset, and unleash a torrent of words that told everyone how they felt about a situation. They probably had a right to “lash” out. We’ve all been there. I checked out the word’s meaning and was surprised at its uses. In essence, it means to move violently or suddenly. We all have eyelashes so that we may comprehend. It’s not a languid movement. But sudden. Like a snake strike. It comes out of nowhere. Suddenly, it strikes with words and emotions. Flares. Violence. Suddenly. Out of nowhere. A tongue lashing. A whipping. A storm unleashed lashes a target.
Do you get the picture?
We struggle with maintaining the beast. Our emotions rule, even when our mind knows better.
Other similar-sounding words that maybe point to the root. Splash. Clash. Flash.
This morning, I’m thinking about someone with every right to react. We would all understand it. What did this person do? It was simple. He turned the other cheek.
Maybe this person can exhibit great control, or they’ve been down the path of losing it and know what it does. It makes victims of both the giver and the receiver. When it happens the first time, we’re shocked. If it continually happens, someone learns it’s the only way to get their way. Everyone else is afraid of the response. They give in.
Me? I walk away. That’s my light touch.
Judas betrayed Jesus.
And immediately, while He was still speaking,
Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs,
came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying,
“Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely.”
As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him,
“Rabbi, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.
And one of those who stood by drew his sword
and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
Then Jesus answered and said to them,
“Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?
I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.
But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
Then they all forsook Him and fled.
(Mark 14:43-50 NKJV)
Judas may have thought he was doing the right thing. Maybe a rebellion would be jumpstarted. Could he be angry with Jesus for not riding the wave of popularity to the throne? Or, as it is shared in the gospels, an evilness took hold of the man.
Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot,
who was numbered among the twelve.
So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains,
how he might betray Him to them.
And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.
So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him
to them in the absence of the multitude.
(Luke 22:3-6 NKJV)
A light touch. A simple rebuke. But Judas was looking for more. He probably expected a tongue-lashing. Punishment. Angry words. A demonstration of power. But what did he receive? Love. The greatest light touch in the world. Expressed at the right time takes power from the lasher.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.”
~Martin Luther King Jr
Jesus taught us to Love. Not just those who are close to us but also to those whom we may consider an enemy.
“You have heard that it was said,
‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I say to you,
love your enemies,
bless those who curse you,
do good to those who hate you,
and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;
for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you,
what reward have you?
Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brethren only,
what do you do more than others?
Do not even the tax collectors do so?
Therefore you shall be perfect,
just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43-48 NKJV)
Today, I want to express a light touch and, by doing so, show love to life’s travelers. You will never lose by giving love. That’s the best light touch in the world.
A soft answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly,
But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
(Proverbs 15:1-2 NKJV)
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