by Michele Jackson

Created on: August 30, 2008

A negative mind expects to find other negative minds. 2 Samuel 10:2-4 (Amplified Bible) says, "David said, I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did to me. So David sent his servants to console him for his father's death; and they came into the land of the Ammonites, But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, Do you think that it is because David honors your father that he has sent comforters to you? Has he not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, spy it out, and overthrow it? So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half their beards and cut off their garments in the middle at their hips and sent them away." David had kindness on his mind, but Hanun had distrust on his mind. Hanun assumed that certain behavior meant bad intent. He assumed that King David's words could not be taken at face value. He assumed that King David's words and behavior were a pretext to do harm to Hanun. Because Hanun assumed King David's intent and actions were bad, Hanun had no confidence in King David and then mistreated him and his servants. Good relationships require confidence in each other. Without trust mistreatment arises.

Hanun's order to have King David's servants beards shaved and their garments cut off in the middle at their hips sending them home in disgrace came from an assumption. Assumptions can get us into trouble. One of the definitions for the word "assume" according to Webster's New World Dictionary is "to seize; usurp." When we operate from an assumption, we may be afraid that someone is going to take power over us, so we take the power over them first. To take power over someone means that you want to control them.

God did not create us to be controlled by people and to operate by distrust. Believers in Jesus Christ live by faith (trust in God), which is not a possibility, but certainty in the character of God. This faith does not come from our human nature, but is God Himself working through us. The Apostle Paul expresses these concepts in Galatians 2:20 (Amplified Bible) when he says, "I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

With God living on the inside of a person, a person is able to be loving to others. 1 Corinthians 13:4 (Amplified Bible)

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