Thursday, July 28, 2011

Walking in Love

I heard a rumor the other day.  It was about one of the members of our church.  It’s not that I felt one way or another about its truth, I was just sickened by how much damage a rumor like that can do. 

Imagine struggling to correct a situation that has somehow gotten out of hand.  After all, isn’t that the way most sin creeps up on us?  Satan is no slouch; he’s a saboteur.  He starts with a small lie, a grey area, and before we know it – BOOM!  Our sin has gotten a lot bigger than we are.  So think about confessing to someone you respect and consider a possessor of Godly wisdom.  You are embarrassed, scared, so sorry for your family and the painyour sin  has caused.  You surrender – to whatever methods you and your counsel are led by God to establish, in order to restore you and keep you from falling back this way.  You will do anything to make it right; you have laid yourself bare, and relinquished privacy and control -- things most of us take for granted – all for the sake of renewal and healing.  And then… you hear the whispers.  You see the looks.  They know.  Betrayal.  Defeat.  Fear.  Confusion and doubt.  Heart sickness.  

Really?  Is this what we do to a brother or sister who seeks forgiveness, and repentance, and healing? 

And if the rumor isn’t true?  What sort of damage can we do with an unfounded story or careless supposition?  Just how cruel can we be and still call ourselves the “body of Christ?”  I know why God is God – because were it I looking on this, my children causing one another such harm, those who bear my name acting so recklessly?  I’d vomit.  I’d wretch and seize in disgust. 

But still He looks on us, his children with love.  The gossip, the backbiting, the jealousy, the arrogance and judgment.  Our sins are vile to Him, but we are not.  And as those who have been sanctified, sin should be just as vile to us.  Especially when it leaves our brothers and sisters wondering who they can trust if not the Family of God.  And yet, we engage in such putridity. 
And yet... He still loves us. 

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

"Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

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