In case you do not know her, she was Hannah’s co-wife in the bible. She was the one who enjoyed fertility while Hannah struggled with barrenness.
She was the one who rubbed her fellow woman’s misfortune on her face. She was the woman whose actions were solely for the purpose of making another woman miserable.
Despicable isn’t it?
In the modern time, Elkannah their husband could pass off as a pastor or a worker because of his reputation of devotion. In such a household, one would think that she would have been exposed to exemplary living. Being a pastor’s wife or a reputable person’s wife is not a ticket to perfection. You must work on yourself !!!
While studying that scripture, I realized that Peninnah understood so little about life.
Peninnah had an opportunity to be remembered for good.
Hannah was the mother of a kingmaker, the greatest judge in Israel, anyone associated with her will definitely be mentioned in the annals of history forever, by treating Hannah wrongly, she set a bad record for herself for all eternity.
You might say, you have not done that to anyone in that manner; but have there been times when you rubbed off your privilege in the face of one who has a lesser privilege.
Have there been times when you made someone feel so bad about themselves because you think they aren’t at ‘your level’?
Do you despise a person in their times of distress?
Change is the most constant thing there is and so today is too early a time to judge someone’s future. Just because you think you can predict someone using their situations today, doesn’t mean they will remain like that tomorrow.
When you understand that what happens in a person’s life is not dependent on how you treat the person, you will learn to treat people with respect for your own sake.
Be careful how you treat the person next to you today. There is nothing as constant and volatile as change.
Today is too insufficient and premature to be used as a criteria for judgement.
