"The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
I gave my back to the smiter, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed."
2 Nephi 7:5-7
This was interesting to me today because of the way that it talks about shame. The speaker (Isaiah as quoted by Jacob) undergoes beating and mockery, and allows shame and spitting, and yet he says at the end "I know that I shall not be ashamed." Clearly, he isn't talking about being ashamed before men, but before God. I admire that idea, that it really doesn't matter how other people treat us in the end, since the person that we are trying to please is God.
Now, of course, that doesn't give us a free pass to go and offend everyone... God saves us individually *and* as a community. Love is part of the package. :) But I actually think this makes love easier in some cases. If we aren't worried about pleasing regular people, it makes it easier to love them, even if they are plucking off hair (seems to be a form of mockery?). Because our only shame can come from God, we can love them anyway, and continue to set a good example and teach when we have the opportunity. We don't have cause to be resentful or bitter towards those who harm us in their ignorance of God, because that isn't our focus. We're here to help them, not to gain their favor.
Today, let's remember who is in charge, and do our best to serve God and look to him rather than random people for reassurance and comfort.
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