Why do we short-circuit conviction in others?
Is immediate relief and feeling good about ourselves really better than walking through suffering?
Is immediate relief and feeling good about ourselves really better than walking through suffering?
When someone is feeling bad about themselves, why are we
so quick to bolster them?
When someone is beginning to recognize sin, why do we brush it off or try to make them feel better?
When someone realizes that God is longsuffering, why do quickly compliment them on other areas and tell them they’re good?
When someone is beginning to recognize sin, why do we brush it off or try to make them feel better?
When someone realizes that God is longsuffering, why do quickly compliment them on other areas and tell them they’re good?
I believe we are trying to be good friends.
I believe we are trying to reassure.
I believe we are trying to shorten or lessen their suffering.
I believe we are trying to reassure.
I believe we are trying to shorten or lessen their suffering.
But are we hurting them more than we’re helping them?
Maybe they feel bad about themselves because they are
idolizing the praise of man. When we come in quickly and bolster them and tell
them nice things, we are really feeding their idol worship.
Galatians 1:10… For am I now trying to win the
favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were
still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ. (HCSB)
Maybe as someone is
coming to see their sin, they try to confess it. But we don’t want them to feel
bad about their sin (or don’t even want to acknowledge it at all – we don’t
want to call sin “sin”), so we change the subject or downplay the seriousness
of sin.
2Corinthians 7:10… Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to
salvation and leaves no regret,
but worldly sorrow brings death. (NIV)
1 John 1:9… If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Luke5:32… I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance.”
Maybe they are starting
to see how often they sin, rebel, reject God. But they’re also starting to
understand the magnitude of His grace. But instead of acknowledging their sin
and praising God for their repentance and His grace and mercy, we offer words
of assurance that the sinner is really a good person.
Isaiah 5:20…
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and
sweet for bitter.
Mark 10:18…
“Why do you call me good?”
Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
Romans 1:25…
They exchanged the truth about God
for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who
is forever praised. Amen.
We think we are helping. We have good intentions.
Maybe we really don’t know what to say.
Maybe we really don’t know what God says.
Maybe we really don’t know what to say.
Maybe we really don’t know what God says.
But please, Christian –
Speak the truth, in love.
Don’t short-circuit the work God is doing in a heart and
mind just because it’s uncomfortable and you want them to feel better right away. Our anguish, our despair, our lamentation has a higher purpose!
Lamentations 3
55 I called on your name, Lord,from the depths of the pit.
55 I called on your name, Lord,from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.”
58 You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life
When someone is calling out to God form the depths of the pit, trust that He will hear their plea. Trust that He will come near, take up their case, and redeem their life. In your words to this pit-dweller, don't deny, cut short or circumvent the work God is doing in their mind and heart to draw them close to Him and fill them with praise.
1 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all
From everlasting to everlasting, the Lord’s love is with
those who fear him, keep his covenant, remember to obey his precepts. That bad
feeling, that recognition of sin, that acknowledgement of longsuffering – those
are all signs of God’s grace! Rather than trying to make them feel better with
human comfort, let me point them to the grace of God in the person of Jesus
Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord, my soul – praise His
holy name.
