Isn't it funny how children want so badly to grow up and be adults? I mean, I remember being a kid and assuming that all the injustices that were being played out on me would be solved once I grew up. I'd be able to drive so my parents couldn't say, "No, we aren't going there today." I would have a job so no one could tell me what I could and couldn't buy. I'd be the master of my own time and no one would be my boss ever again!! :o) *sigh*
It's so wrong, but that is still the impression that children have. Yet, what they forget is that with age, knowledge, and power comes more and more responsibility.
This is also true for Christians. Not only to other Christians, but also to an unbelieving world. Romans 2 talks about this and it just really struck me today. See, I instruct, correct, and discipline my children. the irony is that my 9 year old (who came to live with us when she was 5) is EXACTLY like I was at that age....and in many ways exactly like I still am.
Side note: have you ever been faced with a child who, to look at them is to look in a mirror? Is it infuriating to you too??? Just wondering.
So, as I instruct, correct, and discipline, there are times when, in the middle of the correction, etc. I am realizing that the thing I'm correcting is something that I do too. *oops*
So, how does it affect non-believers when they see us, as Christians, living in a way that even they realize isn't right? Or, when we try to correct them for things that we ourselves are doing but we know we shouldn't?
Rom 2: 21-24: You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
I know there is a lot going on in Romans, but the reality and reminder of what hypocrisy does is scary. To think that the name of God would be being made light of because of my/our broken reputation or testimony. May God keep us from the kind of actions that would cause others to see God as less than He is. May we always make much of God and seek to show others the best of Him through our lives.
To God be the glory!!!
It's so wrong, but that is still the impression that children have. Yet, what they forget is that with age, knowledge, and power comes more and more responsibility.
This is also true for Christians. Not only to other Christians, but also to an unbelieving world. Romans 2 talks about this and it just really struck me today. See, I instruct, correct, and discipline my children. the irony is that my 9 year old (who came to live with us when she was 5) is EXACTLY like I was at that age....and in many ways exactly like I still am.
Side note: have you ever been faced with a child who, to look at them is to look in a mirror? Is it infuriating to you too??? Just wondering.
So, as I instruct, correct, and discipline, there are times when, in the middle of the correction, etc. I am realizing that the thing I'm correcting is something that I do too. *oops*
So, how does it affect non-believers when they see us, as Christians, living in a way that even they realize isn't right? Or, when we try to correct them for things that we ourselves are doing but we know we shouldn't?
Rom 2: 21-24: You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
I know there is a lot going on in Romans, but the reality and reminder of what hypocrisy does is scary. To think that the name of God would be being made light of because of my/our broken reputation or testimony. May God keep us from the kind of actions that would cause others to see God as less than He is. May we always make much of God and seek to show others the best of Him through our lives.
To God be the glory!!!
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