Good Morning Friends,
“You, my brothers, were called to be free.
But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one
another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’ If you keep on
biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each
other.” (Galatians 5:13-15)
It has been said that the church is the only
army in the world that shoots its own wounded. The point is that when
Christians are down the church often responds by turning its back on them until
they can get themselves straightened out. Sometimes it seems like we come into
the kingdom by grace, but that’s where grace ends and we have to stay in the
kingdom by law, by following the rules and keeping the traditions.
Contrast that with the way Jesus responded
when one of His followers fell. Think of what He did with Peter. Did Jesus turn
His back on Peter when he denied Him? No way! Instead of turning His back on
Peter until he could get his life back in order, Jesus went to Peter and
reached out to him, drawing him back and restoring him to leadership. That is
the path of grace.
It is absolutely true that the church has to
stand for what is right. But the church shouldn’t be biting and devouring each
other. Rather, we should stand with each other, help each other, go to bat for
one another, pick one another up when there is a fall. That is the way of love.
That is the way of grace. That is the way of Jesus!
His, by Grace,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment