A good lesson illustrating Colossians 3: 13,14.
This story is about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents in San Francisco: Mom, Dad, I'm coming home, but I have a favor to ask. I have a friend who would like to bring with me. Of Course! We'd love to meet him, his parents said. There's something you should know the son continued. He was terribly injured in the fight; stepped on a mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has no place to go, so I want him to come live with us.
We are sorry to hear that, son answered his parents, Maybe we can help you find a place for him to live. No, Mom and Dad, I want him to come live with us, insisted his son. - Son, you do not know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives and we can not let something like this interfere with our way of life.
We think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own, they said. At this time the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police, said their son had committed suicide and then they traveled to identify whether it was really his son's body. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they did not know, their son had only one arm and one leg !. The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are fun, but do not like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from these and others that are not like us. We need to accept people as they are, and help everyone understand those who are different from us.
Heed these warnings Jehovah's help those who love Jehovah not stumble because of other imperfection in the congregation. The essence of Colossians about supporting each other means overlook or tolerate faults in others that bother us.
This story is about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents in San Francisco: Mom, Dad, I'm coming home, but I have a favor to ask. I have a friend who would like to bring with me. Of Course! We'd love to meet him, his parents said. There's something you should know the son continued. He was terribly injured in the fight; stepped on a mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has no place to go, so I want him to come live with us.
We think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own, they said. At this time the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police, said their son had committed suicide and then they traveled to identify whether it was really his son's body. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they did not know, their son had only one arm and one leg !. The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are fun, but do not like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from these and others that are not like us. We need to accept people as they are, and help everyone understand those who are different from us.
Heed these warnings Jehovah's help those who love Jehovah not stumble because of other imperfection in the congregation. The essence of Colossians about supporting each other means overlook or tolerate faults in others that bother us.
Horrible story, but what a lesson! Those parents, though they had no idea he was speaking of himself, will probably never forgive themselves for their overly concern about someone's handicap "interfering" with their lifestyle.
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