HOD OF CHESED
As a Christian counts the omer in day five, he may realize that Hod of Chesed is all about forgiveness. Hod is a type of humility.
Forgiveness is hard, especially if you have forgiven a person over and over again for the same things. It can be almost impossible when the recipient of the forgiveness takes you for granted and uses your forgiveness against you to get their own way; or simply to gain the attention of others.
Have you ever been there?
THE HUMBLENESS OF LOVING
Hod is the humility side of loving. It explores the ability to rise above your feelings and forgive another.
This could include giving in on a strong stance or position that you have taken in order to create a peace between you and the person you are forgiving. It is loving someone, even when they are wrong.
Arrogant love is not love.
A GOD-GIVEN ABILITY
True hod will come to someone through a great humility of someone else.
The person giving the hod will be trusting God for the ability to do so in the right way; and not leaning upon their human understanding of a situation.
God gave us all the great privilege of multiplying love out to others. This is one way to do that.
GOD GAVE US THE CHOICE
At some point we all will make a choice. One question will return to us over and over again. Will I love this person whom I totally disagree with; or will I arrogantly walk away from them?
Hod is a delicate balance of loving.
KEEPING THE DELICATE BALANCE
Remember that becoming someone else’s doormat is not the same as loving them.
Sometimes loving difficult people means to not enter into debates on what they believe. It could mean not allowing yourself to become an easy target.
Loving an addicted person would require the tough love of not feeding their vulnerabilities back to them. Don’t offer them alcohol, or sweet foods, or things that trigger their addictions.
RECONSIDERING LOVE
Yet; there are times that we simply do not like a person, for no strong reason at all. We simply are not attracted to some because of our own preferences and differences.
These are times when we should soften up our hearts and extend Christian love. Love of others isn’t about being attracted, or being alike.
PUT HOD INTO ACTION
Think of the dirty beggar that sits down beside you in that nice clean church pew. They smell. You don’t really want to sit beside them; but maybe you need to consider what Jesus would have done.
Frankly; we know that Jesus would have looked at that man’s soul and remained with him, even to the point of hugging and embracing them in friendship. That dirty beggar’s soul may actually be cleaner than yours. There are things on the inside that no one can see, touch, smell or feel. Those are the things that should be preserved if they are loving and kind. You can help to preserve them by extending humble love to unlovable people.
DEEPER ACTIONS
Go on out there today and be kind to strangers that speak different, or walk different, or have a different color skin than yours. Extend the hand of friendship and touch them. Do not miss the hidden beauty of a person because you loath the outside of their appearances.
Then go a little further.
Isn’t it ironic how we sometimes reach out to strangers and ignore those living under our own roofs and in our own neighborhoods?
We should think hard about this aspect of hod.
DON’T PROMOTE THE IRONY
Forgive someone close to you who has offended you in some way. Open your doors back up to receiving them into your life. Take some hod humility off of the shelf of your heart and put it to use. Your world will grow and your eyes will open wider.
The things you will see!
Tim McGraw sang about this:
Heaven will smile.
The delicate balance of life with hod will begin to happen.