Grade 12 - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States

Sunday School Curriculum Grade 12
result, you can be sure of God‘s blessing as you seek His way of dealing with those who hurt
you.
III. Acceptance
Accept every one in love, from the man who cuts you off in traffic to the former friend who
spreads slanderous words about you. When you are hurt by these thoughtless or deliberate
wounds of others, how do you typically react? Honestly? It‘s no fun to be hurt. The old
sandbox saying of ―sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me‖
simply isn‘t true. Physical injuries heal over time for the most part, but the bruises from
emotional conflicts do not disappear over time without specific, spiritual remedies.
From a worldly perspective, it is considered normal to react in the ―don‘t get mad, get even‖
philosophy. That is part of the reason why Jesus tells us that our behavior, as those who
belong to Him, must be radically different in order to get the attention of a hurting world.
Jesus says: ―But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those whospitefully use you. And just as you want
people to do to you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what
credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them... But love your enemies, and
do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will
be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to unthankful and evil. Be merciful, just as your
Father also is merciful... Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, running over, will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that
you use, it will be measured back to you‖ (Luke 6:27-38).
Loving both the unlovely and the unloving is not easy. Jesus did not say that this response
would come naturally. If it did, He would not spend so much time explaining these principles
and the importance of following His example in your dealings with those around you.
Remember, acceptance does not mean accept the wrongdoing of your roommate, or the wrong
“life style‖ of your co-worker. You accept the person not the behavior. Christ loves the
sinners to bring them to repentance. However, He did not accept their sins, remember He told
the woman who was caught in adultery, ―go and sin no more‖.
IV. Encouragement
What does encouragement mean to you? Can you recall a time when someone came alongside
you for the sole purpose of lifting your spirits or making you smile?
Have you ever done that for a hurting person? It feels good to know you‘re loved. It feels
especially good in those low moments when you can‘t see ahead clearly, when you don‘t
grasp God‘s perspective and vision for your life.
There‘s no such thing as a person who doesn‘t need encouragement. The individual who
claims to be above ―simple-minded comfort,‖ or who seems completely unreceptive to it, is
likely the one in the direst need of it. God‘s Word is filled with important principles that can
be applied to building up others‘ hearts.
The prayer of your heart can be the same as St. Paul‘s, who longed for all believers to know
the sweetness of united fellowship. He prayed ―that their hearts may be encouraged, having
been knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance to the knowledge of
the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ‖ (Colossians 2:2).
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