John 21:22 Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
When Jesus said this to Peter he was talking about a specific person, yet I think this verse can also be talking about people today.
Many of us Christian people get caught up on what other people are doing, how other people live, what others think of us and how they interpret the bible. We will try our best to change the views of others to match our own never dreaming that we could be wrong or that there may be more than one way of seeing things.
We get mad, argue and name-call with the best of them when someone disagrees with our views or how we think we are to live. It does not take long on social media to read posts and replies and see all the different views and opinions.
It also does not take long to see the anger building up in responses as people argue their point and condemning those who see things differently.
My thought is why do we spend so much time in arguing, condemning, excluding and not accepting others?
Jesus came to earth to show us what the Father was truly like, a God of love and acceptance. A God who can speak to people in different ways, a God who created us as unique individuals who act, think and live different from one another.
When we say we should love and accept people as they are, many get upset thinking we are saying go along with anything and say everything is acceptable. What I am saying is rather then judge, condemn and point out where we think others are wrong, we should love them with the love the Spirit gives us from within. Being kind, respectful and loving to others does not mean we agree on everything or condone everything someone does.
For some reason, many christians feel it is their duty to point out where they feel others are wrong as a way to get people to change. People are not going to change because of condemnation and judgment. Love is what draws people and love is what we are called to be known by. None of us should force our views and opinions on others.
Rather than be so caught up on what everyone else is doing and how others live, we should hear Jesus say what is that to you? You follow me.
We are to follow Jesus and do what we know is right for us. Let the other person have that same freedom to follow (or not follow) Jesus as they feel is right. The Spirit will convict where change is needed, the Spirit draws people to the Father. It is not our job to judge, condemn or convict others.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus and follow in the path he has for us we do not have to worry about what the other person is doing….what is that to you? That is between God and the other person. We are to follow Jesus by loving God and loving the other person even with the differences.
This post is timely. I’ve been thinking about this very thing lately.
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Thanks Mike.
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Good morning all. I’m wondering, do you feel people can be informative without being polemical? I know if we walked into a flat earth convention and said “Friends, the world isn’t flat. It’s round” they might be very offended, maybe some would even become violent. But that’s not how we’ve been behaving, right? We didn’t start the conversation wanting to upset anybody. So, can people inform without being argumentative? Or can we make an appeal as Christians, even a confident appeal, or does God frown upon this?
I notice often on this blog that people are told that their conversations or their preaching (whatever we’d like to call it) doesn’t work, and that nobody changes their minds. I’d like to ask if you’ve made a long effort at ministering the gospel to people. I share God’s word with people by phone, email and in person, and I’ve seen people’s hearts change from a proper conversation about Jesus, and about what He’s done for them. It’s simply not true that people don’t change from this.
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Thank you Phil! That was a very strong message I needed to hear today. Lately I hear the Holy Spirit speak to me about loving enemies and doing good to those who harm one. Tricky! Extremely tricky. How do you do it? There is a deeper wisdom here and lessons coming about this in my humble opinion.
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Loving our enemies and those hard to love is very tricky. Without the Holy Spirit within us it is impossible. We are to depend on him and let the love of God flow from us. Thanks for the comment.
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Do you have any anecdotal stories to tell about how the Holy Spirit spoke to you regarding loving your enemies? I’m looking for specifics Within contexts of boots on the ground, enemies appearing in one sphere of influence, real world Life On Life’s terms exposure, provocation, confronting an enemy and repressing the impulse to correct or destroy them!!
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Sorry Charles, I do not have any stories for now. I have always read and been taught that we are to love people, all people no matter who they are and no matter if they think the same as me or not. I have always been an easy going person who likes people. I do not always like what they do but never felt it was my job to change anyone. I believe in living my life loving God and loving people and letting the Spirit do the changing that needs done. Sorry I cannot be more specific in regard to your question but thanks for posting.
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[…] Source: What Is That To You? […]
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Thanks Carol.
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