Sunday, July 19, 1998 This Week's Lesson:
In this week's lesson, which came from Matthew 18:15-17, Galatians 5:13-15, and Galatians 6:1-5, we learned about the importance of confronting one another during conflict situations with a loving spirit. The past two lessons taught that we should be ready to forgive the brother or sister who seeks our forgiveness and that we should accept responsibility for our own behavior in relationships. In Matthew 18:15-17, however, the Bible teaches what our response should be toward the person who has offended us but does not seek our forgiveness. First, we should approach that person alone and encourage them to make right their wrong. If that fails, then we should return with one or two witnesses and again seek to get the offending brother or sister to repent for their wrongdoing. If that attempt fails, the final step is to bring the person before the church as a last attempt to resolve the conflict. If the offending person still will not repent for their misbehavior, then we are to remove ourselves from them, literally treat them as a pagan or tax collector according to this passage from Matthew, and then go on with our life. While each step of this process is a little more serious and a little more drastic, we are always taught to proceed with each one in a spirit of genuine Christian love.
Loving one another is an important part of being a follower of Christ. Matthew 22:37-39 tells us to love God first and foremost and to love our neighbors as ourselves. All the things that we do as Christians must be done in an attitude of genuine love, or we will have wasted our time. I Corinthians 13:1-3 says, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." Having a Christ-like love for one another is very important, but the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian church about the importance of not mixing the virtue of love with the idea of Christian liberty. He taught that we are free in Christ but that we should not misuse our freedoms to indulge in sinful actions and attitudes. According to him, we misbehave when we use our Christian liberty to become involved in something as bad as physical immorality or as seemingly innocent as having too much selfish ambition.
As Christians, we should try to carry one another's burdens. We should not lift ourselves up in our own eyes. We should restore our sinful brother or sister gently, in a spirit of true love. And we should always examine ourselves to first get the beam out of our own eye before trying to fix others. The essence of being a Christian is to love those around us. An important evidence of that love is to consistently demonstrate a willingness to serve the Lord and to also be ready to share our hope in Him. In the coming week, ask the Holy Spirit to use you in ways which will help those around you see God's love for them.
Tom of Spotswood"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
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