When I was growing up there were these two sisters that lived down the street from me. Their names were Krista and Molly. Now Krista and Molly could not have been any more different. Where Krista was outgoing, joyful, and had lots of friends, Molly was an introvert, sullen, and no one liked her. I know their home life was difficult. Their mother had passed away when they were just babies and they were being raised by an alcoholic father. Many times I remember seeing bruises on their little bodies. In those days people just didn't talk about those things. We all got through our hardships and never complained... who would listen anyway? We were just kids.
I grew up watching the Allen sisters. Krista took over as the lady of the house. She made sure the house was clean, the laundry washed and put away, and dinner was on the table by six.
Molly on the other hand did everything she could to hurt Krista. I never understood Molly. She was a hateful kid. She always had a scowl on her face and something mean to say.
As the years went away and we all grew up, Molly turned into quite a beauty. Many of the boys in our high school class loved to watch Molly walk by. She was always ready to put on a show. To say that Molly was seeking love in the wrong places would be hitting the nail on the head. Molly developed quite a reputation at school and it was not good. She was the girl that everyone whispered about. The girl who all the "good" girls hated and all the "bad" boys loved.
While Molly was busy developing her bad girl image, Krista was busy organizing Bible studies for the youth group at school. I know Krista loved her sister. I also know that Krista feared for and prayed for Molly all the time. Never did Krista waiver from her love for her sister. We all thought she was nuts to waste her time praying for a girl who would surly go to Hell. We were so blind. I was so blind.
We eventually finished high school. Krista went away to school on a full academic scholarship and Molly stayed here going to community college and worked as a waitress at the local pub.
I lost touch with the girls for several years when I too got caught in life after high school. I ran into Molly one day at the gas station. She had three toddlers, a broken down station wagon, and had gained about 200 pounds. At first I did not recognize her...she saw me first. She was twenty-five years old and she looked to be in her forties. Poor poor Molly, my heart just broke. I later found out that she married one of the "bad" boys from school, got pregnant right away..and then had two more babies quickly after... He left her while she was pregnant with baby #3.
I remember feeling sorry for Molly at the time but also in the back of my mind I was thinking that she deserved it. I know how hateful that sounds and you know what? It is. Many of us are so quick to judge others that we neglect to see everything we have done ourselves. We are so quick to see the splinter in someone else's eye but not the log in our own. I look back on the girl and woman I was and I feel shame. I wish I could go back in time and be the compassionate person that Jesus Christ wanted me to be. Not full of judgment but full of love. I never saw Molly after that. I know that her children are all grown up by now.
The Bible points out that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), which means that nobody is in a position to be judgmental about another person's actions. Even Jesus himself, who was without sin, did not condemn the adulterous woman when others were about to stone her (John 8:1-11). Jesus instead invited the person who was "without sin" to cast the first stone. When that happened everyone laid their stones down.
We need to be ambassadors for Jesus. We need to love one another as Jesus has loved us.
No comments:
Post a Comment