To Resist or to Reconcile

I've been thinking about the importance of reconciliation lately. In thinking on this I wondered how often reconciliation is made impossible due to the discomfort we experience at the thought of confronting someone we have an issue with- or someone we feel may have a problem with us. Unfortunately, too many times we may resist making the effort to try and reconcile with the offending person. It is imperative that the one who feels they have been wronged confront the one they believe has wronged them. To confront one with the desire to reconcile does not mean reconciliation will always take place, but not to confront one with the desire for reconciliation means it will definitely not take place. The hope should always be for reconciliation- regardless of whether or not that hope is realized, we must be obedient to scripture.

If reconciliation is sought- I wonder how many times out of ten the one wronged would come to realize that things were not what they perceived them to be? Perhaps there were assumptions made that proved to be unfounded or perhaps the offended person had been listening to gossip or slander of the person they felt had wronged them. Sometimes we may take offense at something we have heard about an individual without them even saying or doing anything to personally cause us pain; and because we take offense- we end up distancing ourselves from them. We must determine that if we find ourselves in such a position – to go to the 'offender' and clear the air so that reconciliation can take place. If we are unwilling to do this- there can be no reconciling. As uncomfortable as it may be, we must be willing to confront those who offend us - “if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother” (Matthew 18:15): “.. if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). 

 God wants more than anything- our obedience, and if we are unwilling to reconcile with those who have offended against us- then we are being disobedient to the clear teaching of scripture, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments” (1 John 5:2).. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation..” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

Bitter or Forgiving

A pastor in a sermon I listened to recently made the following observation; If we are not a forgiving person, we are a bitter and angry person. I thought about that, and realized it was probably true. If we have experienced the forgiveness of Christ within our own hearts, we will have no problem forgiving others, because of the love and gratitude we feel due to having our own sins forgiven. If we have not experienced Christ’s forgiveness, however, we will have a hard time forgiving others, and in lieu of this, anger and bitterness will inevitably build up in our hearts. The importance of forgiveness is a clear teaching of scripture, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6: 14).

If we are truly regenerate, it will be our desire to imitate Christ. Christ prayed even for those who brought him much pain and even death, “And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,..” (Luke 23: 33-34). If Christ could forgive those who tortured and put him to death, how much more willing should we be to forgive the offenses of others against us? This does not mean that we will never feel angry, but that we should not hold onto that anger. The temptation to become angry will come, but we must overcome it, “…. do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27).

There is a devastating effect of remaining unforgiven and a devastating effect of retaining an unforgiving spirit. It is true, as one pastor said, “You can say you are sorry until you are blue in the face, but if the person is unprepared to say, “I forgive you,” there will be no reconciliation, no restoration..” Broken relationships are a hard and sad thing to bear.

Someone once said, “Forgiveness is as indispensable to the life and health of the soul as food is for the body.” Matthew 6:12 reads as follows, “forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.” If we are of an angry and bitter spirit, we should seriously question whether or not there is a relationship within our circle of family or friends that needs to be restored. Perhaps we need to either extend forgiveness to someone- or ask it of others. Let us not be like the unforgiving servant in the parable of Matthew 18, where he is forgiven an astronomical debt, but is unwilling to forgive his fellow servant a paltry amount in comparison, “Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18: 32-35).

As those who profess to know Christ and follow after Him, we must keep in mind the following verses from Ephesians 4: 31-32, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Failing to Hold One Another Accountable- is NOT Loving

We all suffer the consequences to our sin, regardless of who we are. If we are regenerate, we can be assured that we will not have to pay the penalty for our sins (for all of eternity), because Christ already paid the price and they are covered by his blood. This does not mean, however, that we should not be held accountable for our sins. Galatians 6:1-3 reads as follow, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” 

TO FAIL TO HOLD ONE ANOTHER ACCOUNTABLE FOR SIN IS NOT LOVING, and it is also not scriptural. In Matthew 18:15 we are told, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” We can be assured that the greater transgression we commit, the harsher the consequences we will have to suffer, effecting others along with us. In lieu of this, only those who care about us most will hold us accountable for our sins. Proverbs 27:5-6 reads as follows, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”

I believe reconciliation with one who has offended us (or who we have offended) is only possible when both parties are obedient to scripture’s teaching. For those whose desire is to glorify God in all that we do, it will be our wish to be at peace with all those we are in contact with, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). Rather than feeling obligated to set someone straight, it will be our desire to act in their best interests, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5).

If we are members of the Body of Christ, we should be displaying the fruit of the Spirit within our lives, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). If we, (or others who profess to know and follow Christ,) are displaying the opposite of this kind of fruit, we should be held accountable for this, and steered to the scriptures. 2 Corinthians 13:5 gives us the following admonishment, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

To neglect to address sin in a brother or sister’s life is not being kind. Psalm 141:5 reads as follows, “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it.” It is also humbling to remember that we are to be “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:20-21). (That submission being only when others are pointing us to obedience to God’s teaching.)

Matthew 7:12 tells us, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets”, and Galatians 5:14 reads,“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:14). Love for God and love for others is the fulfilling of the Law, so we know that Matthew is speaking only in the context of doing good to others by pointing them to obedience to scripture’s teaching. If we, or a fellow member of the Body is (noticeably) stumbling in our walk, our love for one another (and for God) should motivate us to ‘gently’ admonish the offender, in the hopes that he/she will make things right with God (and us, if need be). :)

A Half Truth is No Better than a Lie

I have been thinking on the importance of telling the whole truth of the gospel message. Not just many churches, but it seems as if many professing Christians today only want to preach the love of God.. God loves you, God loves everyone, and they just preach love, love, love... It is true that God is a God of love. In fact, He is love personified, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). God’s love is so great that He sent his only Son to die on a cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all who truly believe in Him, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God did this while we were yet in our sin, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:5-6). It is essential that people know the whole truth of the gospel message.

While it is true, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3: 17), and “Whoever believes in him is not condemned”, people also must understand that “whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:18-21).

People need to know that God is not only a God of love, He is a God of wrath as well, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). Only those whose sins are covered by the blood of Christ can take any comfort in the following verse, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5: 9).

Without being taught and understanding the whole truth of the gospel message, why would anyone believe they are in need of a Savior? Why should they ever come to realize their need to flee to Christ? To take refuge in Him? Many people are being led astray because they are not hearing the full gospel message. The Bible tells us that we are to “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14). Too many people are being steered through the gate that makes the way easy and leads to their destruction, because they want to believe it is an easy path that leads to life, but if this is their belief, they are being deceived, and likely by people who are themselves deceived.

Too many people seem to have this idea that it is not loving to speak the whole truth of the gospel. Others only want to hear about love and we want them to feel good and not be offended, so we tell them only what they want to hear. That is NOT love,“and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:13-14). To heal wounds lightly can be likened to handing a person a bandaid after they have had their arm severed off, NOT at all helpful. To fail to warn others of the danger to come, is NOT being loving.

To show love is to speak the whole truth of the gospel message. While it is true that, “.. he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), it is also true that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’ (Matthew 7:21-23).

May the following verses that Paul spoke, found in Hebrews be true of us also, “Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:9-12).

It is essential to speak the whole truth of the gospel message, others’ eternal destinies are at stake!

The Sin of Pride

I have been thinking on a notion that someone once brought across to me, that being their belief that the sin of sexual immorality is no greater sin than that of pride (or any other sin).  I had to think that through and search the scriptures in order to arrive at a clearer biblical view in regard to such an idea. Here is the conclusion I arrived at:

There is one very important fact that we need to understand in considering whether or not the sin of sexual immorality is any greater than the sin of pride. The truth of the matter is- It is the very sin of pride which leads to the sin of sexual immorality. In fact, it is the sin of pride which leads to every other sin under the sun. We are prideful if we think we can tell lies and not have to suffer the punishment for willfully disobeying God in this regard. We are prideful if we think we can live in sexual immorality, (which covers a broad area) and not have to suffer the punishment for blatant rebellion against God’s commands. 1 Corinthians 6:18 tells us to “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”

In Romans 1: 24-27 we read that, “..God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

Genesis 13:12 states, “Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord,” and in Ekekiel 16:49 we read, “Behold, this was the guilt of... Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” There is no shame experienced in the heart of a proud person who lives in open rebellion to the clear teaching of scripture. It is pride that deceives us into thinking we can disobey God’s commands and not suffer the consequences- whether that disobedience may be something as simple as telling a little white lie (which we may not consider so bad), or murder- which would be a grievous transgression of one of God’s commandments, (one that we would consider as being horrendous).

Jeremiah 50:31 reads as follows, “Behold, I am against you, O proud one, declares the Lord God of hosts, for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.” Those who are of a proud heart and live in open defiance to God’s commands either refuse to believe that He truly exists, or they plain don’t believe that He will be faithful to His word in regard to their disobedience, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). Proverbs 8:13 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate,” and in Psalm 10:4, we read, “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

If we are not seeking God, we are living in disobedience and going our own way, which will lead us down the broad road to destruction. In lieu of this, God calls all people to, “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin” (Ezekiel 18:30). However, only the humble can experience salvation. 2 Samuel 22:28 tells us, “You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.” May we truly fear the LORD and humble ourselves before our God, for, “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life” (Proverbs 22:4); Not meaning we will experience prosperity in this lifetime, but that those who truly love God will be richly blessed for all of eternity- in the life to come, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Disobedience brings Evil Influence- Resulting in Dire Consequences

Thursday Aug. 25, 2016

I have been thinking more along the line of influences, and in lieu of this, what a powerful impact we have on one another for good or evil.  Through our obedience to God's word, we can influence others toward doing good. We can also influence them toward doing evil through our disobedience to God’s word. Amos 5:15 teaches us to “Hate evil, and love good...” When we are not loving good but giving in to evil (which is any action contrary to scripture’s teaching), we will suffer the consequences of our wrong actions, and we are not the only ones who will suffer the consequences. Many other people may suffer the consequences of our disobedience. A good illustration of this can be found in the story of Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshophat, the king of Judah, was a man who feared God, “The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David” (2 Chronicles 17:3). Jehoshophat made a very grave mistake however in making an alliance with Ahab, by giving his son in marriage to Ahab’s daughter. Now, “…..Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:29-30). As one who feared God, Jehoshaphat should have been more discerning. God clearly commanded His people not to intermarry with those who did not follow after Him.

Nehemiah 13:25 states, “….. You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.” This was due to the other nations wicked practices that would lead the people astray from following God, yet Jehoshaphat "allied himself with Ahab by marriage" (2 Chronicles 18:1), a man who was known for his wicked practices. Jehoshaphat (and his son) were to suffer the consequences of this wrong action. Scripture tells us that Jehoshaphat's son "..walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Kings 8:18).

Jehoshaphat not only allied himself in marriage with Ahab, but he also helped him in war, “Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel,“I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses,”(1 Kings 22:4). God was not pleased with Jehoshaphat's actions however, and "Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is on you" (2 Chronicles 19:2).

Jehoshophat did not take to heart the above admonishment however, for “After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah (who was Ahab’s son) king of Israel, who acted wickedly. He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying,“Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish" (2 Chronicles 20:35-37). A few wrecked ships are nothing in comparison to the many lives in Jehoshaphat’s family that were influenced toward doing evil for generations to follow- due to his alliance with Ahab. Jehoshaphat’s grandson also followed in the wicked ways of Ahab, and Jehoshaphat’s daughter-in-law had all the royal family destroyed so she could reign as queen, (see 2 Kings 8:25-27; 11:1). They would have been totally wiped out, but for the grace of God, (see 2 Kings 11:2-20). We must understand that many people may suffer the consequences to our disobedience to God’s commands.

Even though Jehoshaphat was a king who followed after God, he still suffered the consequences of his disobedience to God’s commands in regard to his ungodly companionships, and his family suffered from those wrong choices as well. We should not think that things will go any differently for us when we are disobedient in this area. In 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 we read, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

This does not mean we should shun unbelievers, but that we should exercise discernment as to how we spend our time in the company of those who may end up influencing us in ways that could tempt us to compromise our biblical standards. To show kindness and to point others to Christ is one thing, but to spend so much time (in the company of those who do not love God) that one would consider entering into partnership with an unbeliever, or even marrying one- is quite another. We must be a part of this world, but that does not mean we should be absorbed into it in such a way as to compromise our biblical principles. James 4:4 makes a very strong statement, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” In 1 Corinthians 15:33 we are told “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” (NIV)

God tells us in His word, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

In Amos 5:14-15 we are told to “Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Influencing Others toward Doing Good

I have been thinking on how easily we can influence one another for good or bad. The reason I got thinking on this was due to an incident involving my large walk- in pantry that had been sadly neglected for the past few years, and my husband who is exceptionally patient, and never nags. He could have gotten annoyed with me and told me to clean the pantry up, or at least asked me to.. but instead he took the initiative to help give some much needed incentive to this unmotivated wife…

Due to being distracted in various ways over the past few years, my pantry had become very neglected, cluttered and downright grungy. Well, my husband decided to take matters into his own hands in regard to my pantry, and instead of nagging me to clean it up, he obtained a shelf unit with cupboard doors, had our son paint it and make some beautiful wooden pine shelving for it and then tore out a section of my pantry and installed this lovely looking cabinet in its place.

I was delighted- and then I looked at the rest of my cluttered and dirty shelves, and I just could not be content to leave them in the state they were in with that beautiful looking, freshly painted cabinet standing there in stark contrast to them. So, I cleaned off, and cleaned up all the rest of the shelves that were in the worst shape and my husband painted them for me. It took some time to get everything all organized and back on the shelves, but what a difference. I didn’t get the whole pantry done, but I am certainly better motivated to tackle the rest of it now that I can see what a fantastic improvement has already taken place. Had my husband gotten annoyed with me, and nagged me into cleaning up the pantry, I either would have tried to convince him I had too many other things to do right now or gone and done it with a (probably) not so great attitude. I might have even ended up being annoyed with him rather than so very pleased and thankful for such a thoughtful (and clever) hubby. :)

I am always comparing the physical to the spiritual in life and this little episode made me think of how easily we can influence one another for good or bad. As Christians we should desire to influence others for good, and do so in a way that would motivate them to want to do good. If we condemn and berate others for their wrong actions, we certainly won’t influence them toward doing what is right. We may just end up being a huge stumbling block in one’s walk of faith, or a deterrent to one even desiring to walk in the faith. A warm, friendly, and helpful demeanor will accomplish far more than a cold, stern, and condemning attitude. Another good thing to remember is that our good influence on others should always begin within our own homes and work out from there.

Just as my husband motivated me to want to clean up my pantry by giving me a head start, so we should try to motivate others to do good and please God through their actions, by living in such a way as to motivate them toward actions that are pleasing to God as well. Matthew 5:14-16 reads as follows, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).