Thoughts from Luke

Luke 7:36-50

Can unholy people approach a holy God?? (V.36-39)

-A pharisee would say NO ... would we disagree? Do we also condemn people who show obvious brokenness and darkness?
-Can you think of someone who if you saw enter the church you would say, "What are they doing here?"
-It's easy to become judgemental: sinners can usually see their sin easily but those who are "righteous" usually cannot as easily.

I had a great experience with this very fact on Sunday. Brent and I were taking some time to talk about our relationship and our spiritual growth, and we were "calling each other out" on different things we have noticed about each other. I quickly realized that sometimes we don't see ourselves as others see us. I know the saying is: "I am my worst enemy," but with sin sometimes that is not true. Sometimes we look past our own flaws ... but the people closest to us see them VERY clearly. I think that is why accountability is SO important! People we love should be able to gently, and in a loving way, point out things in our lives that dishonor God or make us look bad to others.

We also talked about this in Bible study. Sometimes there are people in our lives making decisions that we know will hurt them later or dishonor God (I'm talking about people we are very close with, not just casual friends or acquaintances) ... but we choose not to say anything because we don't want to damage the relationship. But even though someone might get upset by what we say now, I think later they will see that we were only saying it because we loved them and we cared what happened to them.

I know personally, there are things I wish people would have said to me in my youth ... just shook me hard and said, "MISSY! You are being an idiot!" (but in a loving way of course). I would have been upset ... but looking back I would have known they cared enough about me to risk it.

So, pray about it first. And if you feel God's lead, then show someone you care by being the person who says what they need to hear. If I keep waiting for someone else to tell that person, no one ever will.