Got What He Deserved

I love having friends and family with opinions different than my own.  Sometimes it challenges me, stretches me, or even just solidifes what I already believe.

I recently had a dialogue with someone and the phrase used by someone in the conversation was "he got what he deserved."

In this case, what this person deserved, according to the commenter, was death.  The person had been involved in a lot of crime and in one of those criminal choices, he encountered someone willing to defend themselves and their property with the use of lethal force through a firearm.

The criminal was shot and killed.

"He got what he deserved."

Hold up.

Since when do *I* get to decide what someone else "deserves?"  Isn't that the biggest possible judgement?

I get that it's a phrase and I understand the idea behind it - I do.

I very much believe there is only 1 true judge.  And when a person dies and "meets their maker," that is when the true judgement will happen.  And it's the only judgement that counts.

It's so easy to point fingers and get angry and place blame.  It's so hard to look outside of our own experiences and circumstances.

It's so hard to always choose love.  You know - like Jesus told us to do.

You want to know what I think every person deserves?

Love.
Respect.
Acceptance.
Joy.
Peace.

From the person who is a victim of a crime to the person committing the crime.  Each deserves God's love, joy, peace, understanding, comfort.  It's not my place to determine that the victim deserves something different than the criminal.  It's my place to do as Jesus taught - Love God, love my neighbor, love myself.

It's a mindset shift that could truly change the world.

So many people are turned off by Christianity and by religion.  And things like "he got what he deserves" is certainly a part of why some poeple turn away.

But the really fascinating thing is that when you really dig in and study the Bible and study what Jesus said and did, you find out that from the Old Testament to the New, God has been loving us intensely.  Especially when we don't deserve it, when we disappoint, when we cause damage, when we hurt others.  When we're our most unlovable - that's when God loves us the most.

And when we see others being unlovable - that's when they need to be loved the most.