Thinking

Just thinking….there are so many things going on in the world today that get us riled up(myself included). What if its ok that we don’t agree with others in any number of areas of life, and others don’t agree with us? Proving somebody wrong and ourselves right only works to divide us further. Love is the only way. Does this mean we compromise our convictions and what is dear to our heart of hearts? No! Honor is celebrating somebody , not trying to be them. I have a lot of opinions and perspectives on things, but if all I care about is making others see my point of view, who’s profiting? Not God, that’s for sure. And am I helping others? Nope. I’m just building an Empire made of clay while tearing down somebody else’s potential to be who God called them to be.
I got really offended and hurt the other night by somebody whom I thought was a friend, but it turned out that their assumptions and standards mean that they interpret my values and where I stand as something that it totally is not. I do not want to ever compromise my values on sexual purity and waiting until marriage. I understand that sexual sin is one of the biggest struggles of humanity and in no way want to pass judgement on others. I have struggled off and on for years with pornography and lusting. In and of myself I can’t defeat it. However, I cannot excuse it or turn it into a slap on the wrist when God seriously wants people to be free from it. There is no life in it, and pretending there is helps nobody. That’s why I got hurt, because somebody says that any guy who does not have sex with women must be gay. Seriously? It hurt because I could tell they were serious and not simply joking like they normally do with me. To each their own I guess. They had a choice. I have a choice. Take offense or choose to love and pray for them. Pray that their values line up with God’s values and for their heart to be broken for what God sees in sexuality, not what society, culture, and human nature sees. One of the biggest ways that born again believers stand out – besides uncompromisingly loving and not judging people – is when we stand for righteousness and especially when it comes to God’s order of sexuality. God’s standard is so much deeper than human flesh’s, and only God’s conviction can free a person to repent and seek His grace and mercy to change their hearts to be like Him and not live by the ways of this fallen world. I wanted to put this person in their place with how right I am and how wicked and selfish and superficial their perspective is. What would that help? Nothing. Would probably stiffen their resolve to see things the way they do, and I’d end up putting them down and condemning them so that I’d feel better. How does that show them God’s love? That line between love and compromise sometimes is not always what we think. There is no formula that works every time. Sometimes it may take a strong rebuke, others times we need to keep our mouths shut. Only God can work in us and through us in those uncomfortable and sometimes humiliating situations when we want to be understood and the other person(s) just aren’t going to. Thank You, God, for Your mercy and patience. And Thank You for grace to love and to know when to stand and when rest.