30 Day Cleanse - Day 9

Scripture

"So don't bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you." --Proverbs 9:8

Observe

When we judge the people who mock us, it only encourages them to hate us. But when we correct the people who walk in wisdom, they embrace the correction, and love us more for helping them be wise.

 

 

Where We've Been

Over the past couple of months, we've grown closer to God, by remembering how good He has been in our lives; and we've grown closer to each other by hearing each others' stories about how God has impacted us.

Unfortunately, we have one sad thing in common:  Rejection.

Like Jesus says in John 15:19, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

Hate hurts.

So, really quickly, I want to encourage you with two verses:

"God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." --Matthew 5:10

AND

"Even if [your] father and mother abandon [you], the LORD will hold [you] close." --Psalm 27:10

The God of all Wisdom has chosen you, loves you completely, and will bless you for whatever trials you face in this life on His behalf.

Where We Are

I feel like most of us are really grasping the love of God in such a way that we want everyone else to know Him--even the people who have hurt us.

That is the heart of God. 

"God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." --Romans 5:8

If you think about it, God knew Judas would betray His Son the whole time that he was a disciple, but Jesus didn't treat Judas ANY differently.

Judas got the same access to all of the heart and love and teaching and miracles of Jesus, even though he would eventually turn Jesus over to the people who wanted to kill Him.

God LOVED Judas completely, and gave Judas all of the chances in the world to know and love Him too.

The key word here is LOVE.

Where We're Going

In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is called our guide. He gives us the mind of Christ, unveils the secrets of Scripture, and enables us to understand godly Wisdom.

But the Bible says that the Wisdom of God is NOT the wisdom of the world.

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.... But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." --1 Corinthians 18:25 & 27

The Kingdom of God is backwards from the kingdom of the world.

In the Kingdom of God, a shepherd boy named David killed a giant, war hero named Goliath. In the Kingdom of God, we love our enemies. In the Kingdom of God, when we give away everything we have, we gain more than we could ever have.

To the world, all of these statements are illogical. They don't make mathematical sense.

Trying to correct the behaviors of non-Christians with the Wisdom of the Kingdom of God is like trying to use the rules of baseball to play rugby. It just doesn't work.

It only leads to frustration--on both parts.

Apply

Proverbs 9:8 tells us that wisdom doesn't work to reach the lost. The rest of the Bible tells us what does:  Love.

Like it says in 1 Peter 4:8, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins."

When we judge/correct/rebuke the world, we uncover their sin. We point out where their actions do not line up with the will of God, and expose their weaknesses.

God doesn't do that.

In John 3:16 it says that "God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life."

God didn't save anyone through judgment. He saved them through love.

And we get the privilege of doing the same!

Pray

God, we thank you that you loved us when we were imperfect. If you would have judged us while we were a mess, we never would have had the guts to come to you. We wouldn't have wanted you. But your love won us over. Thank you that we can learn from you in so many ways. Thank you that wisdom teaches us how to be like you. Thank you for sharing some of your heart with us today, as we studied your Word. Help us to be more loving, and give us grace to forgive those who have rejected us and hurt us. Most of all, help us to love others the way that you loved us, so the people we care about the most can know you too. Amen.

Your Turn!!!

Have you ever gone through a situation where you tried to give truth to someone living in sin? How did they react? Have you let God heal the places in your heart where you were rejected? Have you ever seen love transform someone's life? I'd love to hear about it!