Bitter and cynical?

People will disappoint you, accept it! Friends will prove fickle. Partners will sometimes turn out to be parasites. Many leaders will be short-sighted, self-centered fools. Yes, you discovered at age 10, more or less, that Santa Claus was a fraud. Now get over it and get on with life. If we will not forgive others and ourselves our failures and short-comings, if we will not accept that no one can perfectly meet our expectations, we will grow bitter and cynical, as we age. Henry Ward Beecher, a well known pastor of the 19th century, said, “The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The cynic puts all human actions into two classes — openly bad and secretly bad.”

Some people use the failures of others as an excuse for cynicism and bitterness, even hatred. For others failure of their fellows becomes a reason to love!

Disciples of Christ are called to the latter response following in the footsteps of their Lord who "came to seek and to save those who are lost!” (Luke 19:10) That summation closes a story of a little man named Zacchaeus. Zee was a Jewish man who turned on his own people and worked for the Romans as a tax collector. He wasn’t above adding more than his legal commission to the bill and his dishonesty had made him wealthy. And, for all his wealth, he was an outcast in his town. When he heard that the traveling rabbi named Jesus was coming to Jericho, he wanted to see him. Of course, due to his lack of social stature, he had no hope that a respected man would entertain an offer of hospitality at his house. Because of his literal lack of stature, he couldn’t see over the crowd, so Zee decided to climb a tree to get a glimpse of the Man. Jesus saw him on that branch and said, “Let’s do lunch together, at your place!” The cynics went crazy! “He’s going to be the guest of a sinner!” What a conversation they enjoyed. Jesus offered him acceptance he had not felt lin years. He pointed him to the real purpose of his existence and this little man returned to the God of his fathers, getting his life right in the process.

What if Jesus had joined the cynics in the belief that Zee could not or would not change? What if He had stopped under that tree and bitterly railed on the little man’s sins and failures? The crowd would have been pleased, but the redemptive work of God would have gone undone!

Disciple, let the love of God wash bitterness and cynicism from your life. Confess it as the sin it is! Let the Lord of Love make you tender, forgiving, and full of hope. A cynic may appear to be sophisticated, but he will never accomplish the work of God in this world.

Here’s a word from the Word. Invite the Holy Spirit to seed it deep into your heart and mind, today!
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NLT)
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O Master, let me walk with Thee
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret;
Help me bear the strain of toil,
The fret of care.

Help me the slow of heart to move
By some clear, winning word of love;
Teach me the wayward feet to stay,
And guide them in the homeward way.

Teach me Thy patience still with Thee
In closer, dearer company,
In work that keeps faith sweet and strong,
In trust that triumphs over wrong.

O Master Let Me Walk With Thee
Gladden, Smith © Public Domain