Not that you’re supposed to have “cheat days” on a fast, as it generally defeats the point…but I swung by Facebook briefly, and loved what my friend Steve Goad had to say…he’s one of the few folks who has insightful, original posts…like this one:
Have you prayed for your enemies today?
Have you prayed for political candidates you disagree with?
Have you prayed for the illegal immigrant?
Have you prayed for the thief, the murderer, the rapist?
Have you prayed for the terrorist?
Jesus said “Love your enemy, and pray for those who persecute you.”
Instead of cursing them… pray for God to bless them, and show them love… even as God has shown us love.
If all Christians did this… I believe amazing things would happen in our world.
And y’know what? He’s absolutely right.
Yes – we need to pray for our enemies, we need to show love to others regardless of who they are or what they’ve done, but we need to do so with wisdom so that we are not coming across as condoning or supporting the sinful behaviour.
I recognize that way too many people go really far to one side (recognizing the sin) and are simply being judgmental. They show no love, or kindness, and that is very wrong of them. They often miss the point of Jesus’ loving sacrifice and show of mercy and possibly use it as an excuse to overlook their own shortcomings, flaws, sins, etc. That is no way to win others to Christ – not by a long shot.
But others also go too far in the opposite direction and only show love and kindness but want to be ‘politically correct’ and do not want to be considered ‘mean’ or ‘uncaring’ and therefore do not make a note that the action or sinful behaviour is what it is….. and that it is wrong. They refuse to call a spade a spade according to God’s laws, which is also wrong. We are to stand for and defend what God says is good and true and acknowledge when something is clearly against His mandates and laws (see verses referenced below).
What I’m getting at is that there needs to be a BALANCE in between. A position where we make it very clear that we do not accept, condone, or excuse the wrongs or the sins – – BUT – – at the same time show kindness, love and mercy. There are ways to do that and say that, without coming across as ‘holier than thou’. God hates the sin and not the sinner. We too should do the same. I can tell someone that God’s word calls what they did wrong, but that I love them anyway just as God loves them and wants to call them into his fold -and that I can do that because I too am a sinner and had to recognize my wrongs and confess my sins to the Lord and be forgiven.
Bottom line – YES, I agree that we do need to pray for our enemies, we do need to show them love and mercy and goodness…..but let’s make sure we also recognize that the actions or ‘sins’ are wrong and contrary to God’s laws. That way, we don’t send the wrong message that we are okay with the sinful behaviour or are condoning it because if they get ‘that’ message – they may think that God is okay with it too, and He’s not.
Thanks for listening… :-)
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Psalm 26:4-6
4 I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites. 5 I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands to declare my innocence.
Amos 5:14-15
14 Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. 15 Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.
Ephesians 5:6-11
6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. 10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.
You forgot one, Lizzy:
Romans 5:8: But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(AMP)
Jesus didn’t say that sin was okay, but He had a love for sinners so deep that He was willing to lay down His life for them before they even admitted any wrongdoing (and many never did). It’s not about being politically correct or wanting to avoid rejection, it’s the fact that Christ’s love for us was at a whole other level. Christ’s love wasn’t diminished by personal offenses, political disagreements, societal rejection, or acts of terrorism. He illustrated His love for humanity in such a way that others were drawn *to* Him, even when the implementation of that love was flipping the money-changing tables in the temple court or performing a miracle at the request of a Samaritan woman. It is very common for Christians to focus on Jesus telling the prostitute “go and sin no more”, while glazing over the fact that Jesus loved her enough to save her life from the angry mob while she was still in sin.
Sometimes, yes, we will have to make complicated choices with respect to situations that involve the trifecta of “love”, “sin”, and “other humans”. Even so, I’d challenge you to take ten minutes out of your day today, and pray for these people. Pray for the Christians with whom they will interact, that those Christians would show them the love of Christ. Pray for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton – not that “God would give them common sense and a lick of intelligent thought”, but that Christ’s love would be made known to them. Pray for these men, that Christ would reveal Himself in the same was that He did to the thief on the cross…and then be willing to be Ananias, if that’s what God calls you to do.
Jesus didn’t accept, condone, or excuse sin, but His response was that He Himself went to the cross to pay the price. That is the level of love that we must emulate.