Amish Voice, January 2014

6 / 12

The Amish Voice 6
God has been
working in my
heart recently
regarding
relationships and
respect. Did you
know that we teach
others how to treat
us? Now, wait just
a minute, before we take this the wrong way.
We can all think of ways we'd love to teach
others how to treat us, but those ways would
not be beneficial at all. In fact, the results are
actually contrary to what we think they will
be. This little principle operates using the
Golden Rule. If someone has treated me
disrespectfully, my natural, human response
might be to withdraw (or even to give them a
little of their own medicine), because it
doesn't feel very safe to be around someone
like that.
There are times when withdrawing a bit is a
good thing, and healthy boundaries are good,
but if we are dealing with a believer, we
should give them the same benefit of the
doubt that we would want them to give us. I
want others to believe the best of me and to
see my heart. (I have a compassionate heart;
I hate pain, and feel horrible if I have hurt
someone. I love to encourage.). I need to be
willing to give others room and believe that
they probably did not intend to hurt me. If
they did intend to hurt me, I need to realize
that they probably did so because of hurt in
their own hearts.
To give an example, recently I felt extremely
disrespected and hurt by someone. I have
always been one to work out issues and not
run from a situation, but this time I wanted to
run and never, ever come back, because it
hurt so badly. My natural reaction was to
treat them the way they treated me. When I
considered this principle (we teach others
how to treat us), I thought, “I'll teach you
how it feels to be treated the way you treated
me!”
At first I hurt so badly I had to keep to
myself for a while to find some healing. I ran
to the Lord. He knows us and approves of us,
and only He can work out these situations. I
found safety and security with Him and the
knowledge that He is okay with me. As time
passed I kept giving the situation to Him. He
began to show me some things that brought
me a tiny bit of healing.
He also spoke to me about teaching others
how to treat me, and that in this situation I
was to treat with respect those who had
disrespected me.
I realize this is a no-brainer; after all, the
Golden Rule says, “Do unto others as you
would have them do to you.” The truth of the
matter is, however, that when we are hurting,
it is not easy to think clearly, and it can be
very, very difficult to do the right thing. I felt
I had many reasons to treat those who had
hurt me the same way they had treated me,
but God made it clear to me that this would
do the exact opposite of what I wanted it to.
Chances are that someone might be smart
enough to figure out how they treated me,
but usually, we see things differently than
others. We are right in our own eyes, and we
are also blind to ourselves.
More likely than not, we would invite more
of the same kind of behavior, which is not at
all what we want. We ALL want to be
treated with honor and respect. Treating
those who dishonored and disrespected us
with the honor and respect we desired can be
very difficult and painful. But it actually can
bring healing to your heart at the very
moment you do it, and in the future, as God
begins to bring healing to their heart and
continued healing to your own. Yes, you
heard me! Their hearts need healing as well.
You see, the only way we ever get true
justice is if the offender finds the healing and
wholeness for which Jesus paid the price.
So, if we pray for those who have hurt us to
find healing and to become whole, we will
also find our own healing and justice. If this
seems rather elementary to you, go back in
your mind to a situation where you were
badly hurt. In those times, God needs to
break down obvious truth in ways that our
broken hearts can receive. This is how He
did it for me. Is my heart completely healed
of this situation, and has it been resolved?
Not by a long shot. But I am confident that it
will be, because He who began a good work
is faithful to complete it.
—Love, Lynn Miller
Bruce
Lengeman
joined us in
October for
the Amish
Voice
Conference
Call.
Order his
book, and
as the title
says, learn “To Kill a
Lion: Destroying the
Power of Lust From the
Root.”
Do you struggle with
lust or other sins and
addictions?
Learn from pastor,
counselor, and
writer Bruce
Lengeman on
how not just to
cover up or hide
the problem (like
keeping the lion
locked up in a
cage), but how
to find victory
over the problem
and be set free through
Jesus Christ. If you
would like to order the
book, send $15.00 (that
includes postage) to:
The Amish Voice
P.O. Box 128,
Savannah, OH 44874
Pennsylvania Deitsh Testament
Translated from a Greek text associated closely with the
German and English texts used by the Amish, it is written in
everyday Pennsylvania Deitsh as spoken in the home. In-
cludes Psalms and Proverbs and side columns of the English KJV
(except for Psalms and Proverbs).
Beautifully bound with gold printed, soft imi-
tation leather cover. Includes self-teaching
primer Ich Kann Pennsylvania Deitsh Laysa.
Order from:
TGS International
P.O. Box 355
Berlin, OH 44610
Phone: (330) 893-4828
Fax: (330) 893-2305
Online:
Make checks payable to: TGS International
5x8 inches | DU1001...$13.95
SHIPPING & HANDLING for US orders
Standard Mail Rate
 $0.01-$10 $3.50
 $10.01-$25 $4.50
 $25.01-$65 $6.50
 $65.01-$249 10% of total
OH RESIDENTS ADD 6.5% SALES TAX
TO SUBTOTAL (Merchandise & Shipping)
PA RESIDENTS ADD 6% SALES TAX TO
SUBTOTAL (Merchandise & Shipping)
Showing Respect To Those Who Have Broken Our Hearts —Lynn Miller