I had to laugh one day when I was told Facebook relationships were not real friends. I have had deeper and kinder experiences with believers on Facebook than I ever had in person, face to face.
Here is the reason we can develop deeper relationships with those on Facebook than with our families and church attendees: we are able to find those who are like-minded, following the same path we desire to walk, loving the same things we love, and seeking the same things we love.
In families, we have only what was given to us without our choice. We have to struggle to be ourselves in front of people who want us to be just like them. Of course God placed us in families but when we become His child He gives us a new family.
There is a saying, you will know a person by the company they keep. If we think we must remain with family just because they were endowed with the same blood that runs through our bodies, then we miss out on many life experiences that bring wonderful wisdom and human connections for a lifetime and even eternity.
Family tends to want us to think like they do, say what they say, and show approval of many things, even if we do not approve. God was clear that family would be a burden to the born-again believer who has a very different mindset than those who were their childhood companions every day.
Luke 2116 "…15 For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. 17And you will be hated by everyone because of My name."
The one family member who thought differently from the rest was often rejected, almost an outcast for their dissimilarity. Most people do not like challenges or corrections; they want everyone to be just like them.
There is a sense of failure in those who meet up with someone who is different. For those who are pleased with themselves, they feel a personal attack when someone comes along who is different, even if they merely live their own life differently without talking about it.
I will never forget the story a friend told me about family reaction to a decision she and her husband made that they never spoke of to other family members.
This family decided not to have a television in their home anymore because it was becoming a distraction. They removed their television without telling anyone. One day a family member who came to visit was insulted by the absence of the television, accusing the family of acting superior to the other family members. This family member actually accused them of pride and thinking they were better.
Most of us do not encounter such blatant rudeness over our own personal choices, but some people treat us differently in subtle ways for not endorsing whatever they are doing while taking a different route.
One family I knew chastised a young woman, their daughter and sister, for wanting to go to college. The rest of the family was on welfare, living with shack-up girlfriends while pressuring this young woman to do the same things they did. Even though the young woman wanted something better for her life, her family pressured and disrespected her until she finally gave up and became like them.
I encouraged the young woman to trust in Christ. She didn't at that time, but she was interested in having a different life than her family, however weak and depressed, finally giving in to her family to be accepted by them. That was many years ago, we moved away from the area, and I never found out how it all turned out for her as she became an adult with her own choices.
This is why God told us, as born-again believers, to remove ourselves, becoming separate from our bio-family and the world that tries to hinder us, to embrace our new family, which is the family of Christ.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Did you know that rudeness and arrogance are sins?
So many people count themselves as innocent because they didn't rob a store or rape anyone. They ruminate on all the stuff they didn't do and neglect to confess the sinful attitudes and arrogant justifications for disrespect, as though they have not sinned.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
May the Lord keep us in perfect peace as we seek Him to be changed into His likeness and character.
Here is what love looks like; anything appearing opposite of this description from God's Word is sin.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
May the Lord keep us in perfect peace as we seek Him to be changed into His likeness and character.
Intentions Matter
Anyone who comes along with the intention of reminding us of past forgiven sins is being sent by the devil. Ignore them and remove them from your life.
Those who should take center stage in your life are those who are humble enough to realize all have sinned, and when someone has repented, they are forgiven by God and free from the guilt of that sin.
Galatians 6:1-5 "6 Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
The key to a restored life for every sinner is sorrow for sin and a desire to be cleansed of it by Christ in us. Without confession of sin, there can be no cleansing or spiritual and emotional progress.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Those who are hell bent on keeping us in bondage to guilt over past forgiven sins have no place in our lives. And, often those who love to hold others' feet to the fire for past forgiven sins are those who have many unconfessed sinful habits that remain in themselves.
The reason we witness so many Christians who don't seem to grow in maturity in their walk is that they are neglecting humility, which requires acknowledgment of sin that changes our character.
Another reason for the neglect of confession of sin is that many who say they are Christians have never been born again. They have no ability to see the depth of their own sinfulness.
1 John 1:10 "10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
Psalm 32:5
"Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah"
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."
Those who cannot confess their sin against someone else will never confess it to God. Those who only confess it to God but not the one they harmed are not sorry enough to verbalize it to the one they harmed. This person loves only themselves. When we love others, we want to reconcile with them and carry on to a deeper relationship with them.
When a sin against someone is confessed and the offended party forgives, the relationship grows deeper than it was before. This is true of our relationship with God too!
This is why God designed confession and forgiveness as two sides of the same coin; if both are present, the relationship is restored and grows deeper.
Sadly many professing Christians today don't believe that things they say and do are sinful. They justify their sin toward others through their own concocted ideas rather than what really occurred. They make judgments about others based on what they wish to believe about them rather than what has really happened.
This is the nature of gossip, guessing and embellishing things about others that are based on nothing more than the ideas in the head of the one who wishes to harm others. Why do they wish to harm others, many reasons and the biggest one is often jealousy.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
When we know what love looks like according to the Bible we will be able to discern what it does not look like.
May authentic believers walk in the love of Christ daily no matter what others are doing and saying.
Those who should take center stage in your life are those who are humble enough to realize all have sinned, and when someone has repented, they are forgiven by God and free from the guilt of that sin.
Galatians 6:1-5 "6 Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks that he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting, but to himself alone, and not to another.
5 For each one will bear his own load."
4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting, but to himself alone, and not to another.
5 For each one will bear his own load."
The key to a restored life for every sinner is sorrow for sin and a desire to be cleansed of it by Christ in us. Without confession of sin, there can be no cleansing or spiritual and emotional progress.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Those who are hell bent on keeping us in bondage to guilt over past forgiven sins have no place in our lives. And, often those who love to hold others' feet to the fire for past forgiven sins are those who have many unconfessed sinful habits that remain in themselves.
The reason we witness so many Christians who don't seem to grow in maturity in their walk is that they are neglecting humility, which requires acknowledgment of sin that changes our character.
Another reason for the neglect of confession of sin is that many who say they are Christians have never been born again. They have no ability to see the depth of their own sinfulness.
1 John 1:10 "10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
Psalm 32:5
"Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah"
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."
Those who cannot confess their sin against someone else will never confess it to God. Those who only confess it to God but not the one they harmed are not sorry enough to verbalize it to the one they harmed. This person loves only themselves. When we love others, we want to reconcile with them and carry on to a deeper relationship with them.
When a sin against someone is confessed and the offended party forgives, the relationship grows deeper than it was before. This is true of our relationship with God too!
This is why God designed confession and forgiveness as two sides of the same coin; if both are present, the relationship is restored and grows deeper.
Sadly many professing Christians today don't believe that things they say and do are sinful. They justify their sin toward others through their own concocted ideas rather than what really occurred. They make judgments about others based on what they wish to believe about them rather than what has really happened.
This is the nature of gossip, guessing and embellishing things about others that are based on nothing more than the ideas in the head of the one who wishes to harm others. Why do they wish to harm others, many reasons and the biggest one is often jealousy.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
When we know what love looks like according to the Bible we will be able to discern what it does not look like.
May authentic believers walk in the love of Christ daily no matter what others are doing and saying.
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