Be Merciful

Everyone wants mercy and understanding when they morally fail, but how many are willing reciprocate when others fail? There probably isn’t a human alive who has not done something wrong in spite of knowing better (excluding infants of course). That’s the nature of fallen man. We can talk about personal responsibility later. We cannot afford to get all sanctimonious when people do fail. “They should get what they have coming, they knew better!” Come on Christian, are you telling us that you haven’t done something wrong, even while knowing better? Even as a Blood-bought, born again Christian? Let’s get real!

 Yes, it can be very difficult to be kind and forgiving to someone who might be considered despicable. It is easier to give a nice person a pass, but a jerk who can forebear? What does Jesus say about this?

 Matthew 5:44-48 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.

Do you see how our Father extends love and kindness to the unjust? Were you once unjust, yourself?  Think about this: Ephesians says we were formerly darkness; not in darkness (see Ephesians 5:8). We don’t want to live in the past; however, we don’t want to forget from whence we came.

Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Keep Your Eye On the Goal

When Jesus came to the earth, what was His mission? To seek and save the lost (see Matthew 18:11; Luke 19:10). In the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15;), He pretty well handed us the same mission. Part of making disciples of all nations includes reconciling the lost onto God.  Do you desire the lost to be saved or condemned?  There is an attitude to maintain when it comes to reconciling others onto God. If we fail to keep it at the forefront of our mind, we start from behind.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Think Like a Surgeon, and Detach

When a surgeons remove tumors from their patients, do they hold the tumors against them? Generally, they are emotionally detached from the situation, and take care of business. In relation to the patients, they may feel some apprehension, because they do not want to cause further damage, or even death. That’s because they have concern for the patient.

What if we viewed sin and failure from the same standpoint? In other words, are we more concerned about people’s welfare and where they spend eternity, than the sin itself? More importantly, what about being concerned with how it affects God’s heart? They were (and are) important enough to Him to send Jesus to die for their sins. His concern is removing the sin, so they can spend eternity with Him. Love should move us to compassion for the sinner, and believers who stumbled.

Sin and failure do not belong in humans, but it’s there anyway. It is the result of the fall. Nonetheless, sin and failure do not have to remain. People have a choice, and we as disciples can make them aware of it. Apart from Jesus Christ, they are powerless over sin. How can we hold sin against them, especially since we’ve been forgiven of ours?

In the grand scheme of things, our focus should be the salvation of others; not their shortcomings.

James 5:19-20 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.  

perfectfaith.org

Compromise

Stating the obvious, there’s been a lot of compromise in the Church over the years. Some might argue, more so now than ever. One may also say, hypocrisy has grown out of proportion. Nevertheless, there are believers who desire purity, both in themselves and the Church. They desire a life without compromise and hypocrisy. Do you yearn for that purity?

Even while combatting sin, one could enter into compromise and hypocrisy, without realizing it. How so? The short answer is self-righteousness. It is very subtle in nature. It has a way of ensnaring even those with the best of intentions, by using religious bread crumbs to lead them down the path of pride. After all, self-righteous is nothing more than pride pretending to be holy. Once a person becomes self-righteous, he or she has already compromised.

When it comes to witnessing to the lost, self-righteousness pushes more people away from Jesus than the other way around. How receptive would you be, if you felt you were being judged by a hypocrite? Apart from love, there is no such thing as truth. Self-righteousness enjoys feeling superior to others, while “putting them in their place.” The appearance of holiness is more important than the lost soul.

To be clear, people have neglected speaking the truth in the name of being seeker friendly. In some instances, they fail to mention repentance as being part of the Gospel, because they’re afraid others might be offended. Truth does offend people, especially if they feel exposed.

John 3:19-20 And this is the condemnation, that Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the Light, neither cometh to the Light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Broadly speaking, we have handled other people’s sins poorly in some instances. Instead reconciling them unto God, we’ve imputed their sins against them. In other words, we became a stumbling block, because of our self-righteousness. How does one deal other people’s sins without compromise?

Deal With Yourself First

Matthew 7:1-5 Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote (speck) that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam (log) that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Do you find it frustrating to see someone point the finger at someone, while he commits the same transgression? It happens all the time, people point out the very faults in others that they themselves carry.

Romans 2:1-3 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

If we find yourself pointing the finger at others, it would be good idea to look in the mirror. We have to deal with our own issues before we can legitimately help anyone else. Clearly, it is easier to deal with someone else’s garbage than our own. The problem is we can get so focused on “fixing” everyone else, we fail to receive that which we need. Without the clarity that comes with repentance and healing, our ability to help others is greatly impeded.

Dealing with ourselves requires humility, and the willingness to see what God desires us to see. If we do not humble ourselves, self-righteousness will have its way, and that is not a good place to find ourselves.

perfectfaith.org