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VOICE OF HOPE
5 October 2022
“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!” Psalm 119:1
Another favorite word of mine is “Blameless.” This life is achievable. It is very possible to live a blameless life. The book of Psalms is all about proving this right.
The question is, how do I achieve this? The answer is simple. Abide in God. “Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper." Psalm 37:3
Here’s the truth. You will be attacked every time by jealous, envious, and insecure people, just because you have great character. It’s always because you're doing good. You are a stumbling block, in the right way.
Jealous people are out on the prowl. Looking and lurking to find just one thing. That one thing to tear you and bring you down. It doesn’t matter what you say or do. They have to find something to get you to react. Lies are their great weapon. This is because they think you will fight back. It’s a defense mechanism, they think they got you. Once they get you to defend yourself, you are in the mud with them. Please don’t do that. Let them talk. Talk is cheap. Your greatest blessing even if you can’t see it at the moment is WHO is LISTENING! That’s right, I never blame the liar. They can’t help being who they are. But the listener? They love to gossip and love to tear down. It is always because of jealousy. In the faith, it is disguised as, “How can they say they are godly and say and do such and such?” Sounds innocent, right? It’s as sinful as it could get. Causing division, accusing, judging, and condemning are not attributes of children of God.
People will lie, make up stories, accuse you and say all sorts of evil against you. As we see in the story of many great men and women, especially in God’s Word. Our character and integrity are at stake when this happens. You know how? If we respond unkindly, we are just like them. It’s hurtful and mean-spirited. But the offense is not against you. It’s against God. You were created in His image, and if you are living blamelessly before Him, guess what will take place next? God always defends the righteous. Judgment is in His hands only. Not ours. It might seem like the liar is winning and has the upper hand, but it’s a terrible illusion. If you continue reading, it says: “A psalm of David. Don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong.” Psalm 37:2
We are humans and made of flesh and blood. So, when we are attacked for doing nothing wrong, we get mad. We worry about our reputation. It’s normal behavior. Normal emotion. But it’s how we choose to respond that determines the outcome. Sometimes, we have to not respond at all and let the lies be told. It’s hard, trust me, I understand.
Let me share one lie (amongst the many) that has been told about me. I was attending a church for a short while, during the worst time of my life. I didn’t attend food functions. The whole world knows that I have severe food allergies. It's a nightmare when I travel abroad. I have to ship my food over. I received a call from the church secretary accusing me of not eating because I didn’t want to break bread with them. Can you believe that a pastor’s secretary would make such a call? I was speechless. I was out running when I received that call. I called my friend, crying, and repeating what just took place.
I said to her, "Gillian, if a meeting just took place with the leadership of the church, accusing me of purposely not eating, and taking it further by accusing me of telling my children not to partake, what else is being said about me? Can you imagine that an actual meeting talking about me not eating, and why was I not eating, would even be allowed at a pastor’s meeting?"
Everybody who ever meets me knows that I can’t eat. It’s not just about preparing my food differently. It’s about completely cleaning any surface, utensils, and cookware that my food would be in contact with. I have no idea if the same utensils that were prepared to cook the lasagne also came in contact with the allergen. It’s so much stress for me. I don’t expect people to understand this. They didn’t have to be rushed to the emergency room as I almost died from eating something that my body couldn’t handle. Yet even though the church all knew about this medical condition, they found fault with me because I wouldn’t eat, and they accused me of evil purposes for not eating. Ellianna eats everywhere we go. Justin is a challenge. He is an extremely picky child. All of my mom’s unbelievable homemade cooking, and every day we prepare a different meal for Justin. He eats bland. I try so hard to introduce food and he sits there and will not eat it. I never told my son not to eat at church functions. But do you see the stupidity of all this? It wasn’t about the food. It was because they needed things to hate me for. God only knows what other lies were brought up against me.
For those who are wise, you understand my point clearly. If you are not liked because of a jealous spirit, there’s nothing that you can do. I could have called the pastor and his wife and brought in my medical file for proof. That would be easy for me to have done. I could have had my doctor call them, and ask all my family, friends, and the rest of the world to write letters about how I don’t eat at their homes. But that was not the answer. But I wasn't going to defend myself.
Please understand the passage above. You are blessed by God when you choose to walk in godly character. Then you shall be blameless. And do not hate! You can feel hurt, it’s an emotion that brings on sadness and anger. Both are destructive. Rather, thank God that He showed you what’s going on in the minds of the liars and the listeners. Then walk away. You owe no one any explanation and you don’t have to defend yourself to such people. Looking for approval and acceptance from such people is a huge mistake. Walk away, and don’t even talk about them with others. I have a way to get around all of this that keeps me clean and blameless before God and man. I find one thing that the person has done that was good and I choose to talk about the one thing they did well, instead of their evil. There is healing power in what I just said. You are breaking the yoke of hate, revenge, and malice when you practice gratefulness for the things that your enemies have done to bless you. You end up with joy, gladness, and a pure heart that then speaks well of the people who are lying about you. Who’s the winner? It’s a no-brainer, YOU are the winner for keeping yourself holy and blameless.
I’m sharing this with you because if you can concentrate on the good that the person did, it keeps you from sinning. Eagles don’t fly with crows. Eagles eat salmon while crows eat roadkill. Do you get my point? Fly like an eagle and keep your eyes on what’s best. The crows wait for the mangled and splatted animals on the ground that have been there for days. In other words, they go after the gross things. Eagles are way up in the sky to be involved with the dead things of the ground. When they are hungry, they go for fresh things, not the dead.
Be blameless in all that you do! Let God defend you. Take the high road less traveled. Believe me, no one gets away with anything. God is watching and He repays good with good and evil with evil. “Blessed are those who walk in His ways and His laws.”
Founder & President
Thread of Hope Inc.
Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro
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