2 Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
I have two dogs, Valentine and Victoria. Valentine is a German Shepherd that appeared here on Valentine's Day last year and Victoria is my 6 month old Saint Bernard I got for Christmas. Every morning they come and talk to me and wait for me to pet and scratch them. They aren't like my cat, Nellie, who just wants to be fed and left alone. No, Valentine and Victoria want attention and they whine and wag their tails and vie for the closest spot to me. They are jealous of each other and bite and push each other out of the way so they can get to me. It is comical, but so much like the way we treat others in our attempt to get at God.
I have spent my life observing Christians being rude and manipulative in order to gain favor with God AND man. Shoot, I've done it myself. I have watched good, God fearing people be run down the road because they didn't meet up to someone else's ideals. I have seen teenage girls be turned away from a preaching service because they had a skirt on that wasn't long enough. I have seen women going through divorces and heartache, be rejected because they made a mistake and it cost them their marriage. I have seen men lifted up and praised in a godlike fashion only to have lives destroyed when they were found to be just human after all. I have been pushed out of the way and I have pushed out of the way for a "spot". It is all very ridiculous and downright shameful behavior of us all. The world sits back and laughs and mocks us and the God we claim to serve as they fill hell and cause it to enlarge itself in order to contain it's multitudes. And you and I will be held responsible one of these days.
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
As we seek to know God and trust Him with our very lives, let us be careful not to deny another sister or brother the same right. God doesn't. He doesn't see skin color, bank accounts or status. He sees those souls covered with the righteousness of His Son and welcomes all at His feet. Should we be any different?
I love both my dogs the same, I have enough love for the two of them, but I will swat the fire out of the first one that bites the other one. I will make them go lay down until they calm down. I don't want God to make me go "lay down". I don't want to be constantly vying for my position because it is an oxy moron....my position is secure. I am His daughter, He Loves me and that is that.
As a missionary it is difficult to not watch other missionaries and compare. Especially when we live in this day and age of social media. I love it, don't get me wrong, but seeing another church bloom and blossom will make you start questioning why your work is so laborious. And if you aren't careful, you will begin jockeying for position instead of being content.
God has us all in the spot He wants us if we are submitted and doing His will. He loves the Pastor with thousands of members and He loves the Pastor with a handful on the membership roll. There is no need for one to step on the other or one to feel less than the other. God loves the woman with the houseful of children and He loves the woman who buried her only child or knows the emptiness of the barren womb. He loves the college graduate and the dropout. He loves the beautiful and the plain. He is the Leader of the broken hearted and the joyful, the loud and the timid. If we are saved, we are His children.
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Are you being kind to your brothers and sisters in Christ? Have you looked down your nose at one recently? Have you made a snide comment to your friend behind someone's back? God is watching you and He heard what you said in your office behind closed doors and He doesn't like it. He won't hold you blameless either. What if you could be the difference today in someone's life who you think is just being a jerk, but their heart is breaking? Instead of setting yourself up on a pedestal and pushing them out of the way with your words, what if you went and put your arm around them or wrote them a note of kindness? You both could be loved on by God today and not sent to the corner to learn to behave. You just may be the one to help someone else today STAY on our journey. The car is big enough for everyone, so let's not leave Anyone out.
Until next time, Lord willing,
Sheri
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