As you may have noticed, I’ve been dealing with some big
issues in some areas of belief I’ve held for years. This post is no exception,
but I hesitate to write it. Why? Well…because it’s a hot topic. And I want to
do it justice; I don’t want it be judging. I’ve done enough of that, and I
don’t want to continue. I also want to make sure what I’ve newly come too, is
indeed in line with the Bible, His Word.
I guess it’s been no great secret, if you’ve been a friend of
mine for long, that I’ve held some pretty strong stands on this topic, and had
NO tact in talking about them. Yes…I judged. I thought I was in the right…
Luke 6:37
37 “Do not judge, and you
will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
It seems I’d forgotten that verse, don’t you think?
Matthew 7:1-5
“Do not judge so that you will not be
judged. 2 For in
the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not
notice the log that is in your own eye?4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of
your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
For some reason…I thought it was my job, as a believer to
call out others sins. I really don’t know where that idea came from, to be
honest. It’s not biblical, at all. We could say it goes back to my childhood,
where I thought EVERYONE had to listen to MY Mom, just like I did, so I became
the enforcer. I’m not using that as an excuse for my behavior, by the way. Just
maybe it’s something in my personality that I have to be aware of, to fight it,
and give it over in submission to God.
God was convicting me, showing me that there is a difference
between holding a fellow believer accountable and loving the unbeliever.
Whoa…what a concept. Not to judge at all, but the only group of people to which
accountability can be expressed, is between believer to believer. Not believer
to unbeliever.
Can we just say that this moment, it clicked in my head, and
was possibly the hugest DUH moment, as well as the hugest humbling moment. Oh,
I so had this love/judging thing wrong.
More verses kept coming…
1John 4:7-8
7 Beloved, let us love
one another, for love is from God; and everyone
who loves is born of God and knows
God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is
love.
I John 4:16-19
16 We have come to know and have believed the love
which God has for us. God is
love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in
him. 17 By this, love
is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence
in the day of judgment; because as He
is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect
love casts out fear, because fear involves
punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected
in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us.
John 13:34-35
34 A new commandment I give to you, that
you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you
have love for one another.”
Love is from God.
God is love.
Abide in God and abide in love.
We love, because He loved us.
All will know me by my love.
Love. Not judgment.
Love. Not fear.
Love. Not condemnation.
Love. Just…love.
So, how DO I show love? How do I give
love and not hate, fear or judgment?
Perhaps the most well known verses on love, which happens to
be the greatest commandment given to us believers, is 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8.
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love
does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own,
is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things.8 Love never fails
No where in there does it say to judge, to finger point, to
bring condemnation upon others.
Galatians 5: 22-23 is also known well, but apparently,
hadn’t taken hold in my heart, until now.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there
is no law.
Again, nothing in there Peggy about judging, condemnation,
etc.
Just love.
So, again I asked myself, how do I show love?
- Be kind
- Have self-control
- Be of peaceable spirit
- Be gentle
- Faithful
- Do not be arrogant
- Rejoices in truth
- Hopes all things
- Takes joy
- Does not fail
There where more listed, however I chose those ones to focus
on myself, because they are the areas I feel I need to change the most.
Please…I hope you’ve heard my heart. While I’m still not
perfect, I am seeking His Word more and more, instead of my own ugly selfish
thoughts. I’m going to mess up. I’m going to hurt others in some way.
But my actions and judging attitude towards the homosexual
lifestyle was wrong. It is not my place to give that out, only to give love.
What I’ve forgotten is this…that we all have our sins. We
all have our short comings. We, none of us, are perfect. God does not place
certain sins in a higher category than others*, we do. So while I had thought
homosexuality was SO much bigger than my lies, they aren’t.
*I do believe, however that there is one sin that IS the
highest in God’s eyes, that is, to place anything or anyone before Him.
I have asked a few friends for forgiveness, because of past
behavior, words etc. They have blessed me with forgiveness, and I don’t take
that lightly.
I’ve poured over scripture, asked God questions, to reveal
to me what I needed to know. To change my heart. To correct me.
I’ve prayed over this for a few weeks now.
I’ve even asked a friend to help me understand how to show
love.
I pray I have done this post well, that you’ve heard my
heart, my changed heart.
This post is linked up over at Women Living Well.
So many need to heed these words. Very thought provoking!
ReplyDeleteThank you, and I agree...many believers need to begin to question their beliefs and how they came to them. It can be very eye opening, when you realize, that maybe your beliefs did not come from the faith you profess, but from your own selfish nature.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
Peggy, I am truly impressed with your research and the truth that does not eminate, but gushes forth and hits you right in the face!! I have a friend who calls himself a leftest Christian stating that these right wing Christians are all hypocrites. I wanted to try to find a way to tell him that not everyone who follows that political belief is a whacko. Seeing your scriptures has given me a way to show him that bashing other christians under the guise of I'm right and your wrong..Would Jesus do this etc. It will be the ultimate way of saying, yes, I know what you are saying, but condemning others is not the way make your side look good. (so to speak) With this I can be saying, I'm not perfect. It will hopefully make him see how we actually are supposed to act as christians. I on the other hand have to make sure that this doesn't come across as an I'm right and you're wrong attitude. It's late, and I need to go back and make sure what I've just said is not offensive or repetative. "And a child shall lead them" (well you are someones child)..Dave
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteWhen you seek the truth in God's word, He helps you find it. I believe that the only way a believer can change the hearts of those around him/her, in regards to all the extremists, is to show love, to LIVE love as God calls us too. It is afterall, our greatest commandment. Nothing else will do. This is said with head and heart knowledge, but I am aware that the acting out of this knowledge might take a little bit of a learning curve for myself.
I pray you find a way to speak to this person, and you know...it always helps to pray before hand! :)
God bless,
Peggy
I found you on Elisa's blog. I commented on your politics post, and stopped by to see your blog. :-)
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how much I love this post. As Christians I think we have really gotten side-tracked into being enforcers, when that's not really what Christ asked. Morals are important, but I believe they are guidelines for us to follow in order to have a good life. The Bible doesn't say we need to be everyone else's police officer. My opinions have evolved so much over the years that it surprises me sometimes. I guess there was a point where I realized that taking a stand against immorality was futile (and not what Christ asked) and loving and serving people accomplishes great things. I will leave the rest to God. Christ was so tender with people. It's what I love most about him.
I also see in you a tender heart that is searching for God's truth and not man's truth.
Blessings,
Heather