To people that is.
Last spring one early morning his gate was loose. He pushed it open and ran after the other horses. His mind was just on his mare, Princess. He pushed the other horses away from her so he could be with her. By doing that he bit and kicked and drew blood on three of the horses. The young mare had blood dripping down her back legs and wounds on her back. Our gelding had bites all over him, and our young stud and smallest horse was hung up on a fence. He almost lost his life. His front right leg could be pulled up to the side horizontally. It wasn't good. Because Smarty wanted his mare he became an out of control monster. To him he was just doing his job -- being the stud. But in the process he really hurt the other horses badly -- horses we love, horses that didn't do anything to him.
Anyway, as I was brushing his coat, his mane and tail yesterday, I told him how much I loved him. I have great affection for him because of his gentleness and his beauty and his size.
And I can love him despite what he did to the other horses (and what he would do again if put in the right situation) because I know he was just following instinct and hormones. The hormones took over and his gentle nature was pushed aside so he could be with his mare.
Now, if we had walked outside while this was going on last spring we would have stopped it. Despite his size and the power of what was going on inside him, we would have walked up to him and put a halter on him because we know who he really is and we know we can do that with him.
But without our influence, the influence of his Master (so to speak), he was just power and destruction.
Why do I bring this up?
Because as I was brushing him it made me think of God's love for us. He knows what we are capable of, both good and bad. And He loves us even when we do bad things. He doesn't quit loving us because of our sin. He still loves us even when we hurt His other children. Even if we went as far as murdering one of His other kids, He would still love us. He sees what we are made of and knows why we do what we do.
And yet, sin isn't what He wants for us. We can be like Smarty. If our Master has our attention we remember who we really are and can then live lives pleasing to Him. But if we forget He is there and go our own way, follow our hormones or destructive emotions we very likely are going to do some major hurting to others and ourselves.
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39