Two "friends" of his basically said EXTREMELY HURTFUL THINGS behind his back, and he found out about it. Understandably, he is now very upset. As am I. How could they do this to him?!
My first gut reaction is go fly back there, visit these two, and hurt them severely, but of course, I can't do that. One, they wouldn't sit there and let me do that. Two, the law would be after me in a heartbeat. Three...yeah, God wouldn't be pleased with that reaction...
Why did these two false friends do this to him?! They were friends! Or, more accurately, they acted like his friends...
One of the most hurtful things that can happen is being attacked like that by people you called "friend"...I've been there, and I definitely don't wish that on others. It's very painful. I definitely wish that my dear friend didn't have to go through this...
Dear Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry that this happened to your friend - it is something that's very hard and I don't wish for anyone.
Sadly those things happen - there are things that happen to most people: falling in love at least once in their life, being heart-broken, losing one or several grandparents (then one's own parents), being betrayed / let down by a friend. Those things happen in random order in human life, and several times.
I do not want to condone the behavior of those two people. Yes, they did wrong. But maybe they did not think of the consequences of their words. They did not assess how hurt your friend would be if he found it. Maybe they were just having stupid fun, without thinking. They were being shallow, and negative, and not realising the value of friendship.
Since you consider a religious approach to the question - consider that people who commit sins and crimes are not always all evil. A lot of good people screw up sometimes. Saint Peter was good, and he tried to protect Jesus when he was arrested - he drew his sword and cut the ear of someone who was trying to arrest Jesus. Jesus was non-violent and healed the person. Peter decided to run away since Jesus did not want to be defended. Some random people pointed at Peter and said he was one of Jesus' followers. Peter then disavowed Jesus. He said something like: "I don't know him!"
(Of course, Peter was very afraid they would kill him too, but still he denied Jesus, but was a good person).
If you have read the Bible, you know there are other instances of people who sin, screw up, but end up being good people.
And you are right: God probably would not want you to go and hurt people.
I am sorry for those painful experiences your friends and you went through.
*Hugs*