How Do You Treat Others?

     Speech is a powerful tool that God has given to man.  How we use that tool can either build someone up or tear them down in a minute.  Daily, we encounter people who may not be the kindest individuals.  Many are unbelievers.  Do we snub them?  Do we hate them or treat them as "less than"?  Are we concerned about their salvation?  Do we feel superior because we have truth and they don't?  How we answer those questions is important because the Lord wants us always to be wise in our actions and speech with believers and non-believers as well.
     In writing to the Church in Colosse, Paul, the Apostle, wrote these words concerning our conduct towards those outside the faith:  "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person" (Colossians 4:5-6).  Paul is right.  We need
wisdom towards those we meet who may not share our conviction that Jesus Christ is Savior.  Our faith is more than just believing in the Lord, it also requires a change in our lifestyle.  Where before, we might have made fun of someone or treated them unkindly, now we are called upon to treat them with the love of Christ.  Why?  Because our conduct speaks volumes to those who know us to be Christian and watch our actions to see if they line up with our words.
     This is especially true for those of us that work outside our homes.  In our case, we have a family business.  We meet all types of people every day.  We see our focus as one of service, professionalism but also one of extending kindness and care even if the other person doesn't react that way in return.  No one knows when someone comes into your store or business what has just happened to that person on the way there.  Perhaps they are a caregiver for a sick spouse or a recent widow.  This forms how they might respond to others.  This is why we need godly wisdom every day so we may know how to respond instead of react to others.  It is human nature (the sin nature) to snap back at someone who has just snapped at us.  However, if we use words of grace, seasoned with salt, we might win that person over and open the door for further conversation in the future.  Many people come to accept Christ because of a relationship with a Christian who lives their faith in both speech and actions.
     I recall a story that Corrie Ten Boom shared in a talk she gave.  She had been traveling all over telling others about what she and her sister experienced in the concentration camps and how Christ sustained them.  At one meeting, Corrie said that a person there came up to her and told her that he had been a guard in the concentration camp where she had been held.  This person had become a Christian and asked Corrie to forgive him for playing a part in her nightmare.  She was stunned and in herself she did not want to forgive this person.  However, as she struggled within, she knew that the Lord would want her to forgive this person.  She was able, by God's grace, to extend a hand of forgiveness to this person even though it was the hardest thing she had ever done.  God helped her with her actions and her words.
     Kind words, a friendly smile, and an effort to reach out to someone does not cost us anything.  When we share this with those outside the faith instead of criticizing them, we will have opened a door for further communication and a chance to perhaps share our faith.  However, when we act like the world, we close a door that might not open again.  Lets watch our speech and conduct ourselves with wisdom around family members, co-workers, friends and neighbors who may not share our faith in Christ and see what the Lord does in opening up opportunities.  We are God's ambassadors and as such, we must be careful how we conduct our lives for many are watching.  Selah!

Have you been able to encourage someone who is not a Christian?  How has God used you?

No Condemnation

     This is a busy time of year for many families.  Ours is no exception.  In May, alone, we have five
birthdays.  Added to these types of celebrations, there are also lots of graduation open houses to attend and vacations to plan in the weeks to come.  With all the activity, tempers can flare and words can be spoken that ought not pass our lips.  We have all experienced this to one extent or another at times when we are overloaded, not feeling well, or stressed.  Unfortunately, our tongues can sting others as mightily as a whip.  When we realize what we have said or done, we know the guilt feeling that rises within as the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have transgressed not only towards another but also against our Lord.  Upon that recognition, we would do well to practice 1 John 1:9:  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Following sincere repentance, we should put to rest all the guilt we felt and accept God's forgiveness.  But what if we still feel estranged from God?
     In Paul's letter to the Romans 8:1-2, he writes:  "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."  I think this needs to be before our eyes and seared into our memory banks so we never forget this.  When we are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are clothed in His righteousness.  God looks upon us and no longer sees our sinful heart.  Instead, He, Himself, has given to us a new heart.
     Christ has made us free; however, when we do fall and walk in the flesh, there is no condemnation.  We are not utterly cast off!  This is the Good News of the Gospel.  I wish I could stop writing at this point with this said.  Nevertheless, there is a lot of false guilt being laid upon the children of God by the enemy of our souls.  This is not guilt resulting from sin, but instead, it comes as a result of a works mentality that has slipped into the Body of Christ.  We may impose this guilt upon ourselves as we tell ourselves we are not doing enough...in church...in the home....at work.  Or we may fall under the spell of an errant teaching that is out there which requires Jesus + something else in order to please God.  That is why it is so critical to know the Word.  Read Romans 8:1-2 again.  Paul could not be any clearer.  "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus..."  We must not allow ourselves, like the Galatians, to fall under the sway of false teachers who told them they had to be circumcised in order to please God.  Likewise, we need to address those vain imaginations we sometimes raise up in our own minds that tell us we are not worthy of God's love.  Our Lord's Word is true and if our heart does not condemn us of a sin then we need to dismiss Satan's lies.
     Paul tells the Galatians in 5:1:  "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."  Good words for us to live by and remember.  We must not allow anyone to place us into bondage again when we know that in and through our Savior there is no condemnation. False guilt used by others to manipulate us into believing our salvation is Jesus + something  has no place in our thinking.
     If we do sin against our Lord, we know that our forgiveness is assured when we repent.  Therefore, when we do fall into short tempers over busy schedules, let us stop and turn it over to the Lord.  Let me close with a portion of a Puritan prayer that serves as a good model for our own:
     "Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find thy mind in thy Word, of neglect to seek thee in my daily life.  My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ;  Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them.  Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do thou rule over me in liberty and power"   (The Valley of Vision, pg. 138).
     Once we have laid all things at the foot of the cross, we must live in the freedom of knowing that "there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."  Selah!