Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Conviction Comes Through Forgiveness

Instead of telling people why they're going to Hell, why not tell them how to get to Heaven.

Why not come to them in Love, and with the intent to build them up rather than tear them down? We all sin. We all fall short of the Glory of God; so there is no reason to throw stones at one another. Stop with the Slander! 
The devil does enough of that on his own. Do not help him. 

We are called to lift up all God's children, and teach them about the power of repentance. We all know Hell exists. We know of the repercussions of a life not lived in Christ, and bound in sin. But spreading that knowledge to a non-believer will not keep them from Hell much the less bring them to Christ. 
Telling them of Christ's Love, however, and that through repentance we obtain forgiveness, and in turn gain eternal life with a fair and compassionate God. That. That will touch the souls of those who don't know Him. 

Instead of picking apart the sinner for their flaws, why not bless them with reminders of who they truly are in Christ? Why not say to them, "You are so Loved. You have so much to offer. You matter."? Why not take them by the hand and just say, "I don't know what you have been through in life that has brought you to where you're standing today, but I care about you, and there is a God who cares also; I just want you to know you're not alone."? 

Why not ask them where it hurts? Why not Love on them from a standpoint of compassion rather than condemnation? 

In the Word; When Jesus went up to the town adulteress, whom everyone was about to stone for her actions, He spoke to the crowd: "Let any who are blameless cast the first stone." One by one the stones fell from their hands to the ground because they knew and could not refute the truth, that they too were mere sinners. Then after the crowd dissipated; Jesus took the woman by her face, looked into her eyes and said, "I condemn you not, go and sin no more."
He had compassion for the woman. He knew she wasn't fulfilled or happy the way she was living, so He didn't deem it necessary to make her feel worse about herself by pointing out everything she had done wrong. He instead, blessed her with conviction through His forgiveness. 

Conviction does not happen through condemnation. Conviction happens through forgiveness. 

There is no way you are going to help bring someone out of sin by beating them down. You have to pull them up into the Light of God's goodness. So stop using God's word as a weapon to hurt the already hurting. That is not helping anyone. Instead, use His word to empower and speak life into the hurting souls, that are still just as much God's children as we are as Christians. 

There but for the Grace of God.... 

I, myself, did not come out of the darkness on my own. It was through His grace, which I did not earn. And I came to know of God's grace because of the Light of God I saw in someone. Someone who showed me love and kindness while I was in my brokenness. Someone who lived as an example of Jesus Christ, and that in turn made me want to know more about who exactly Jesus was. And then I started seeking Him for myself. 

God's Grace is a gift. Not something you can earn. 
God's Word is a blessing, not a weapon. 

Know that you can either push someone deeper into the darkness or you can draw them closer to God. If I were you. I'd choose the latter. 

Be blessed. 

No comments:

Post a Comment