stop saying: "IT IS MY RIGHT"
Almost every conflict between people begins with this common statement: "It is my right." From wars between nations to disputes between neighbors, this way of thinking is often at the root of conflict. I have started many arguments believing I was defending my rights—unnecessary arguments, often with the people I care about the most. But, what right? Humanity has invented an endless number of rights. Today, there is a major conflict stemming from one nation claiming the right to associate with whichever nations it chooses, while another claims the right to defend its borders from potential threats. Who is right? And does it even matter, in proportion to the tremendous human toll of this horrible war?
Many of the rights we have invented come and go. Some are purely cultural. For example, in certain societies, men believe they have a right to possess women. In slaveholding societies, some men believe they have rights over others. In democratic societies, it is believed that the majority has rights over the minority. There's the famous saying: "Your right ends where mine begins," but the truth is that it is always the powerful who impose their "rights."
Nowadays, the "right to the free development of personality" has become fashionable, and under this banner, countless atrocities have been committed. There’s no need to elaborate here. Does any of this make sense? To the world, apparently, yes. But for us, those who call ourselves Christians, it shouldn't. Our teacher, the Lord Jesus, renounced every right the Father had conferred upon Him. He became man and left His heavenly home to humbly live among us. A carpenter by trade, from a small province of the Roman Empire, He was a migrant and refugee from His childhood. Despite being the Lord of all, he never had a place to lay His head. Jesus gave up His rights as owner of the universe. He never defended His rights or anyone else’s. He simply lived a free life, knowing that our "rights" do not matter before the One to whom we must give an account. He is the One who grants all rights; only through Him do we have any rights at all.
Now, I will contradict myself: we do have the right to be free, as long as we walk in truth. But if you walk in lies, no matter how many rights you exercise, you will end up nowhere. Only in Christ do rights make sense. From Him comes the right to life, and without life, every other right is meaningless—ask the dead.
So stop saying, "IT IS MY RIGHT." Break that chain, suffer the offense, and turn the other cheek. Just live.
And all this rambling of mine, the Bible says it better:
"Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust in Him, and He will act.
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
Your justice like the noonday sun."
(Psalm 37:5-6)
Many of the rights we have invented come and go. Some are purely cultural. For example, in certain societies, men believe they have a right to possess women. In slaveholding societies, some men believe they have rights over others. In democratic societies, it is believed that the majority has rights over the minority. There's the famous saying: "Your right ends where mine begins," but the truth is that it is always the powerful who impose their "rights."
Nowadays, the "right to the free development of personality" has become fashionable, and under this banner, countless atrocities have been committed. There’s no need to elaborate here. Does any of this make sense? To the world, apparently, yes. But for us, those who call ourselves Christians, it shouldn't. Our teacher, the Lord Jesus, renounced every right the Father had conferred upon Him. He became man and left His heavenly home to humbly live among us. A carpenter by trade, from a small province of the Roman Empire, He was a migrant and refugee from His childhood. Despite being the Lord of all, he never had a place to lay His head. Jesus gave up His rights as owner of the universe. He never defended His rights or anyone else’s. He simply lived a free life, knowing that our "rights" do not matter before the One to whom we must give an account. He is the One who grants all rights; only through Him do we have any rights at all.
Now, I will contradict myself: we do have the right to be free, as long as we walk in truth. But if you walk in lies, no matter how many rights you exercise, you will end up nowhere. Only in Christ do rights make sense. From Him comes the right to life, and without life, every other right is meaningless—ask the dead.
So stop saying, "IT IS MY RIGHT." Break that chain, suffer the offense, and turn the other cheek. Just live.
And all this rambling of mine, the Bible says it better:
"Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust in Him, and He will act.
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
Your justice like the noonday sun."
(Psalm 37:5-6)
61-69, M
