Personal Responsibility/Going to those who offend you.
Been a little bit since God shared some new insight with me... I have been on a mini vacation, enjoying the beauty of the Oregon Coast with my VERY pregnant wife. One thing that has struck me is how easily people are willing to sow negative talk into our families and into our own lives.
Lately, God has been taking me on a journey through my life, but from a different perspective. Now, going back through your life can be hard, but reflection is necessary to see where you have been and see clearly what choices lead you there. While I believe the link from choice to consequence can often be clouded in complexity, I also believe that if you trace the consequences back far enough, you will find 1 choice that was made.
As I think back through my life and some of the decisions I made, I realized that the decisions I made were based solely on how I was raised. Many of them were conditioned from years of being trained. Many of them were good, like the choices to be responsible and to work hard. Some started out good, like being a servant, but were taken advantage of by others.
What God has been showing me is that we ALL have to take personal responsibility for our choices. We also have to take responsibility over the consequences. God never removes them, but he very often a baits them. What I mean is this: God is such a good God that He will honor our choices because he said he would. He won't ever do anything that violates your ability to choose. But He says very clearly, in Deuteronomy, that we should choose to make positive, life-giving choices.
Selah...
So overall, What God has been showing me is that I need to take personal responsibility for the things I say and do... Especially when it comes to offenses between me and other people.
This morning, God reminded me of these verses....
Luke 17:3,4
Matthew 18:15-20
So this pattern Jesus outlines is not a suggestion, I look at it as a command. Firstly, the Scripture in Luke says to forgive.... Constantly. The idea presented actually goes into Hebrew law a bit. The Law was if a brother (fellow Jew, or your actual family) sins against you, by LAW you are required to forgive them 7 times in 1 day. So if I lie to you about stealing cookies 7 times in a day, you have to forgive me. On the 8th time, you are, again by law, allowed NOT TO FORGIVE ME.Jesus later says forgive them 70 times 7 times(490 times!), basically, forgive all the time. Now take that aforementioned scenario, and say I lied to you about cookies 440 times insulted you 50 times. You would think that you could hold a grudge against me right? According to the math, its right, but Hebrew Law, as well as our most common understandings about sin, put EACH OFFENSE AS A SEPARATE SIN. So in reality you are required to forgive 490 times for the lie (if they repent) and 490 times for the insults (if the repent) EACH AND EVERY DAY!
Selah...
So What God was saying took me deeper into this thought process and said, "Sam go beyond sin, look past it... What happens if there is just division?"
You mean that I need to go to my brother and ask forgiveness for division? For what they perceive as sin even if its not? In short yes.
God was telling me that I need to take responsibility for what I say and do that causes division and strife. If only unintentional, it is still a problem.
As Christians, so often we consumed in the world of me, and what people have done to ME! But we forget that its not about me, its about God working on WE!
I'll say that again so its clear, God wants to work on WE! If you can see them, they aren't your enemy. Especially as the body of Christ, we have to get past this notion of "I'm right and you're wrong" and realize that we are the body of Christ. We need to choose to love our brother's and sisters that declare "JESUS IS LORD!" (Romans 10:9-10) and love those who don't even more! Treating them with mercy, but not treating them with Naivety. (Jude 20-25).
So in essence it all ties back to loving God and People. I don't take this flippantly, but seriously!
Selah....
Lately, God has been taking me on a journey through my life, but from a different perspective. Now, going back through your life can be hard, but reflection is necessary to see where you have been and see clearly what choices lead you there. While I believe the link from choice to consequence can often be clouded in complexity, I also believe that if you trace the consequences back far enough, you will find 1 choice that was made.
As I think back through my life and some of the decisions I made, I realized that the decisions I made were based solely on how I was raised. Many of them were conditioned from years of being trained. Many of them were good, like the choices to be responsible and to work hard. Some started out good, like being a servant, but were taken advantage of by others.
What God has been showing me is that we ALL have to take personal responsibility for our choices. We also have to take responsibility over the consequences. God never removes them, but he very often a baits them. What I mean is this: God is such a good God that He will honor our choices because he said he would. He won't ever do anything that violates your ability to choose. But He says very clearly, in Deuteronomy, that we should choose to make positive, life-giving choices.
Selah...
So overall, What God has been showing me is that I need to take personal responsibility for the things I say and do... Especially when it comes to offenses between me and other people.
This morning, God reminded me of these verses....
Luke 17:3,4
“If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
Matthew 18:15-20
15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
So this pattern Jesus outlines is not a suggestion, I look at it as a command. Firstly, the Scripture in Luke says to forgive.... Constantly. The idea presented actually goes into Hebrew law a bit. The Law was if a brother (fellow Jew, or your actual family) sins against you, by LAW you are required to forgive them 7 times in 1 day. So if I lie to you about stealing cookies 7 times in a day, you have to forgive me. On the 8th time, you are, again by law, allowed NOT TO FORGIVE ME.Jesus later says forgive them 70 times 7 times(490 times!), basically, forgive all the time. Now take that aforementioned scenario, and say I lied to you about cookies 440 times insulted you 50 times. You would think that you could hold a grudge against me right? According to the math, its right, but Hebrew Law, as well as our most common understandings about sin, put EACH OFFENSE AS A SEPARATE SIN. So in reality you are required to forgive 490 times for the lie (if they repent) and 490 times for the insults (if the repent) EACH AND EVERY DAY!
Selah...
So What God was saying took me deeper into this thought process and said, "Sam go beyond sin, look past it... What happens if there is just division?"
You mean that I need to go to my brother and ask forgiveness for division? For what they perceive as sin even if its not? In short yes.
God was telling me that I need to take responsibility for what I say and do that causes division and strife. If only unintentional, it is still a problem.
As Christians, so often we consumed in the world of me, and what people have done to ME! But we forget that its not about me, its about God working on WE!
I'll say that again so its clear, God wants to work on WE! If you can see them, they aren't your enemy. Especially as the body of Christ, we have to get past this notion of "I'm right and you're wrong" and realize that we are the body of Christ. We need to choose to love our brother's and sisters that declare "JESUS IS LORD!" (Romans 10:9-10) and love those who don't even more! Treating them with mercy, but not treating them with Naivety. (Jude 20-25).
So in essence it all ties back to loving God and People. I don't take this flippantly, but seriously!
Selah....
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