I
recall a past experience of having a dear friend point out
something to me that she seemed sure I would be offended at and then
she ended our correspondence with the following words, “still love
me”? After reassuring her that I did not take offense and also of
my love for her, I got thinking on how that interaction could have
ended vastly different. However, because my desire is to love God
with all my heart and others as myself, and this friend has expressed
this same desire in any contact I have had with her, I could view the
comments she made as coming from the good intentions of her heart and
not take offense. I got thinking on how we can only expect good
results from such situations if both parties are desirous of
seeking God with all their heart and loving others as themselves.
However, if one or the other or both are not seeking God diligently,
we cannot expect admonishments, even when given with good intent, to
be met with a positive result. The following account from scripture
is a good illustration of this.
In 2 Chronicles 14, we can read of
Asa, who started out as a good king, and who sought the LORD for help
throughout most of his reign. It was evident he was relying on the
LORD when Zerah, the Ethiopian came out against them with his vast
army, and Asa cried to the LORD his God,
“O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the
weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name
we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not
man prevail against you” (2
Chron.14:9-11). God honored Asa for his trust in Him, and, “So
the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the
Ethiopians fled”
(vs. 12). In 2 Chronicles 15 we can read where Azariah admonishes
Asa and the people saying,
“Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you
while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but
if you forsake him, he will forsake you”
(2 Chronicles 15:2). After Asa heard these words, he “took
courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land...” We
can then read of how the people “swore
an oath to the LORD.... and they “rejoiced over the oath, for they
had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole
desire, and he was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all
around”(vss.
14-15)... and there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of
Asa's reign. The king and the people experienced peace as long as
both were seeking God “with
their whole desire”.
However, peace did not prevail throughout the entire period of Asa's
reign unfortunately, because the king turned from seeking God with
all his heart the last few years of his life.
Scripture tells us that in the 36th year of Asa's reign,
he failed to seek God with all his heart and a seer named Hanani came
to confront him on this, telling him, “Because you relied on
the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of
the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the
Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because
you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. For the eyes of
the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong
support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done
foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars” (2
Chronicles 16:7-9).
Had
Asa been seeking God with all his heart at this time, he should have
been convicted by Hanani's words and repented, but instead, “Asa
was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he
was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties
upon some of the people at the same time” (vs. 10). Asa's
reactions to Hanani's words were definitely not above reproach.
Unfortunately, there will be times that we also cannot expect to
have positive reactions from others if we are in a position of
confronting them with wrong behavior, or even gently admonishing them
in some matter. The only way we can expect others to react in a
positive manner to admonishment, is if both parties are on the same
page spiritually- seeking God with all their heart and desiring to
show their love for Him and to others...by living lives that are
above reproach. If we react in a way that is contrary to scripture's
teaching, we are displaying pride within our heart. However, “..what
does the LORD require of (us)
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with
(our)
God” (Micah 6:8). If
we find ourselves reacting in pride to others admonishment- we need
to repent.
Amen! I agree with this as I have experienced it myself in life both on the receiving end of the rebuke from a believer(s) and the giving of the rebuke to a believer(s). All of us in the body of Christ are capable of reacting negatively to a godly rebuke because we still have that sinful nature in us. But thanks to Christ in us the hope of glory, sin has no power over us to yield to it. Christ Jesus our risen Lord saved us from the penalty of sin and God justified and sanctified us when He raised Him from the grave on the third day. In our daily progressive sanctification, God is saving us from the power of sin and at our deaths or when Christ Jesus our Lord returns when we are still alive, we shall be saved from the presence of sin in us and shall be perfect and blameless without spot or wrinkle as Christ our elder brother is. Hallelujah!
ReplyDeleteHowever, as we live our christian lives, we are commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 1:12) and to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
That means we must judge (correct) one another in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:12). When we fall into sin knowingly or unknowingly, then we must be ready to accept correction or rebuke from our loving brothers and sisters knowing that they are watching out for our souls and for name of God not to be profaned among unbelievers. We should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger which doesn't show God's righteousness in us. We commanded to submit to one another in the body of Christ and one of the ways to do submit to each other is by accepting a godly rebuke from a brother or sister when we sin knowingly or unknowingly.
This side of heaven we are in a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12) and so we must welcome rebuke from fellow believers if we are to be successful in our spiritual warfare.
The way we will react to a correction or rebuke from a brother or sister will reveal what is in our hearts and therefore we must "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)
I have been blessed by your blog dear sister. I look forward to reading the others. Keep up the good work of the Lord. Your labor is not in vain.
Thank you so much for your input Caleb, along with your encouragement and the wonderful scripture references used that so appropriately complement this post. :)
Delete