The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Saturday
October 11, 2008
The Lord hates cheating, but he delights in honesty. Pride leads to disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom. Good people are guided by their honesty;
treacherous people are destroyed by their dishonesty…
Evil words destroy
one's friends; wise discernment rescues the godly...
It is foolish to
belittle a neighbor; a person with good sense remains silent. A gossip goes
around revealing secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a
confidence…
Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy
yourself when you are cruel…
The Lord hates people with twisted hearts, but
he delights in those who have integrity…
The generous prosper and are
satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
Proverbs
11:1-3, 9, 12-13, 17, 20, 25
My family always told me that I was honest – to a fault – that I told too much about myself. I didn’t understand what they were talking about. Honesty is honesty – right? Wrong! There is an honestly that tends to lean toward cheating. That type of honesty puts other people on the defensive and that is not too nice.
As Christians we are not supposed to talk about one another. I don’t know when we will get that one down right, but we need to really work on it. Mainline denominations put down Pentecostals because they are too emotional and Pentecostals put down mainliners because they are so rigid. Then of course both of them put down other denominations, etc., etc… When will we ever learn to truly respect and embrace our differences and stop wounding one another?
I have several friends who are mainline, but who are married to Catholics. Most of the time they are in a spiritual tug-of-war. I was talking to one such friend the other day, who truly loves their spouse, and this person has done everything to try and bridge the gap. Yet, there are constantly struggles with how to raise the kids, etc. I just hurt for all of them.
God wants us to be people of integrity. One of the times I was most wounded was when someone I cared deeply for told me I was not a person of integrity. I still mourn. People of integrity are people who are honest, moral, and who have very strong principles. People of integrity hunger for wholeness and soundness inside out. Doesn’t that describe just about everyone you know who has a relationship with Jesus? Does it really matter what our denomination teaches us? Isn’t it important to simply love God and love people?
I think I am going to start a new life. I am going to focus on Jesus and what He wants to change in me. While He’s changing me I think I will just accept and love people He places in front of me and not worry about convincing them of any doctrine outside of Jesus Christ. Think I can stick with it?
Father, please forgive us for focusing on our differences and not on the cross.
