Good Morning Friends,
“I have written you in my letter not to
associate with sexually immoral people -- not at all meaning the people of this
world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case
you would have to leave this world. Now I am writing you that you must not
associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or
greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man
do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?
Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the
wicked man from among you.’” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)
It seems like there are many people so trapped
by sin that they are beyond salvation. That is a wrong impression! God is in
the life-transformation business. He has demonstrated His ability to change
lives by what He has done in the lives of those who are His children.
The Apostle Paul was a persecutor of the
church, throwing some in jail, perhaps even murdering some. If anyone was
beyond God’s grace Paul was. God transformed Paul!
Mary Magdalene was a prostitute! It’s hard to
believe that God can take someone that far into sin and turn her life around,
but that’s what He did with Mary!
Zacchaeus was a thief and swindler. He was so
trapped by greed that he hurt his own countrymen in order to line his pockets. God
turned a greedy thief into a generous giver.
Your story and my story also they contain sins.
Maybe our sins weren’t quite as open and obvious as Paul’s, Mary’s, and
Zacchaeus’s -- or maybe they were -- but all of us were trapped in sin. God has
radically changed our lives, and He keeps on working to change them more!
Don’t give up on the people around you. They
may seem beyond God’s grace, but they aren’t. Be patient with them. Share with
them as God provides the opportunities. Don’t give up on them. Expect that God
can change even them -- like He did you!
His, by Grace, Steve
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