Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Judge Yourself

How are we suppose to treat someone has a different opinion on what the bible actually says? Is it to:

1. To insult and demean the other person? Now where is that biblical?

or

2. To do as the bible says to do? Reprove in Love? Now, this is what the bible says to do:

2 Timothy 2:
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

and

Romans 12:
10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.


Another thing to think about. The bible teaches that you will know those who belong to Christ by their fruit. Here:

Matthew 7:
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.


ok what are the fruit? Here:
Gal. 5:
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

I am not the one to judge who is right or who is wrong. That is not up to me. But ask yourself, "what kind of fruit am I showing here?"

What is the purpose of my posts? Is it to demean some one else or is it instead to show what the bible says and let the HS convict him/her of the truth? It is the HS's job to convict not ours. Our only job is to show and teach the Word, not to judge others, not to demeans others, and not to push others away. Only God knows the heart. He looks at the heart and judges what is there. If someone is striving to please God, God is happy. I for one do not have an wish to stand in the way of the HS's job, nor is it my wish to push away those who are seeking God and seeking what God wants to do in that person's life.

Judge yourself before you judge others.

Reproof?


Yes it is!! But to myself as well as those of us who are meant to hear this. I think that sometimes we get so involved that we forget what we are here for.

A personal dislike of someone is no reason to be nasty to that person. The bible says to gently reprove and correct. This is what we need to remember to do.

Some of us (myself included) have been unusally harsh and this is not the way it ought to be. Not the way Jesus would want it. Remember that we are here to do His work.


1 Timothy 1:
5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion,

We are to love everybody, even those with whom we disagree and for some reason do not really like. We need to remember to put our personal dislikes aside and show the Love of Christ to everyone. THis is what the bible teaches, this is what Jesus says to do.
posted by Star @ 3:25 PM