@Cryptopsycho21 27 October 2021 more from that month

Jesus Lives- Matthew 10:16

**16** “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. This is a beautiful verse that always struck me as strange. As a student of the Bible, I automatically associate snakes and serpents with deception and evil. In actual life, they are one of the animals that I automatically fear and dislike. That said, I never gave their benefits much though. In this verse, Jesus uses one of the characteristics of the snake as a benefit for his followers. When I first read it when I was young, I felt this was strange. Maybe it is my personal bias against the animal, due to the instinctive fear and the lesson learned in the Bible. I guess in true retrospect, it could also be seen as the love Jesus has for all living things and how nothing must be evil. It also brings up the thought that people change. All too often, we have one bad experience with someone and label them as trouble makers or what have you. However, this is only from our limited perspective. God has perfect perspective and understanding. This is one reason why we trust Him. It also brings up the point that people change. The true Christian understands this because we are taught to pray for our enemy. Praying for our enemy hopefully gets them to change their ways and bring them into the fold. So we should not be stiffnecked in our opinions of others. What do you think?