called to belittle, degrade and humiliate them. We don’t have to agree with their choices, but we are to love them, just as Jesus loves us all.
Bottom line is this. For those who have never known the love of the Father, or have been shunned by those who claim to walk according to his word, How are they suppose to see who Christ truly is when we the body of Christ are portraying a judging, condemning picture? In my life I have experienced times of judgment and criticism, some very harsh.
Looking back, I found the rejection and unkind words (spoken and unspoken) left me feeling so unworthy and unloved, I just wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out. I could not fathom the rejection that was spewed on me. It wasn’t a coat of many colors I wore; it was a cloak of heaviness and despair. Then looking a little farther, I can see where I too had been judgmental and full of criticism. There were times in m life when I was a modern day Paul.
I believed I was doing right, but in reality I was bound by tradition and law therefore killing my brothers and sisters spiritually with my words and actions.
My brutal honesty and self righteous actions did not portray the love of Christ and for that my heart breaks. I have purposed in my heart to look to those who are hurting the way I would want to be; to the ones rejected, I will open my arms with love; to the ones who feel unworthy, I will share my stories of my failures and God’s grace in the midst of it all. God is not a favor of person and neither should the body of Christ. I want to be a redeemed Paul. I choose to love all of God’s children.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." John 13:34
Stacey is a mom, a grandmother and a woman after God’s own heart. Born and raised in the Deep South, she loves people, Cajun traditions, and sharing the love of God too. She lives her southern life by God’s grace and love.
www.victoriousshesstands.blogspot.com