My husband gave a suggestion today that made a lot of sense to me. He said what we should do, is make up a gift box, written on the front with the word "forgiveness" and place it on the shelf ready and waiting for those who have confessed their sin, to come and get their gift, a valuable object lesson to show that we want to forgive, we desire to forgive, but those who have sinned must come and desire it with brokenness and sorrow over their sin.
This is what Christ has offered! He has forgiveness ready and waiting for anyone who will confess their sinfulness, to receive their gift. It costs nothing, but offers everything.
However, without confession and brokenness they will never receive this gift that was paid for with the blood of the Creator Himself. The gift is too precious to pass out to those who refuse to repent and trust Christ.
Psalm 51:17 "17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
Nathan the prophet did not offer forgiveness to David after he committed adultery and murdered Bathsheba's husband, he rebuked him and required brokenness and contrition. There was no thought of forgiveness for David until he confessed and his heart was torn over it all, even then he suffered the life long consequences of his sin. His baby by Bathsheba died and he was not allowed to build the temple because of the blood that was shed at his hands. And, yet he was called the apple of God's eyes, he was deeply loved by God and grieved by his sin.
God and Nathan loved David so much that making him comfortable in his sin was not an option, there must be discipline, rebuke, confession in the package to receive the forgiveness.
1 Peter 1:18-20 "…18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you."
We take so lightly the matter of sin that we forget that it required the shedding of blood by the Perfect Lord. How unthinkable that we would express indifference to the sin in mankind by placing our own comfort above the giving of His life for our sin.
How unthinkable that we would focus on our own emotional desire to feel better about ourselves by forgiving before their is repentance. We do not forgive for our own sake, we forgive for God's sake and in His way that those who sin will see their need for repentance. It is all first about God and then about the spiritual well being of the sinner.
To make a sinner feel better by our acceptance of them while they are arrogant and unrepentant, is a slap in God's face. This life is not about us feeling better about ourselves, it is about holiness God's way.
When we negate sin by forgiving when the perpetrator is unrepentant, we are minimizing sin, as though it really doesn't matter, when in fact it is so serious that even the smallest sin in a soul cannot come before our Holy God. Only those who have repented (turned toward Christ confessing their sinfulness), can become born again and after God changes us into a new creation in our spirits, He begins the cleansing process.
God will not hear the prayers of the unsaved, nor will He hear the prayers of the saved when they are sinning.
John 9:31 "Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, AND DOES HIS WILL, him he hears."
1 Peter 3:7 "You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, SO THAT YOUR PRAYERS BE NOT HINDERED."
The prayers of many believers are being hindered because they are standing in the way of the consequences God has for a sinning brother or sister by not requiring repentance for forgiveness.
If we are to follow Christ we are to act as He acts. We should not be keeping company with or listening to those who are unrepentant. We can bring the gospel to the unsaved, but when they will not listen we are to "shake the dust from our feet" and move on. We are also to "come out from among them and be separate."
Matthew 10:14 and 2 Corinthians 6:17
If a believer is sinning and will not repent we are to remove the wicked one from among us as God tells us to do.
2 Corinthians 6:17 ""Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you."
It is time the church realize the impact of this flippant and unBilbical form of forgiveness based on psychology and not the Word of God. We are to forgive God's way, requiring repentance for a relationship to be restored, desiring to forgive, only being prevented by the unrepentant heart of the stubborn, that has not yet been broken enough to confess.
The reason I write about this with regularity, is because the church as a whole, especially the apostate church is not obeying God in this matter. They are forgiving without requiring repentance, they are accepting sin in the body as though it were not very important, they are keeping company with believers who sin as well as unbelievers who reject Christ and for no other reason than to avoid all conflict and to appear spiritual and friendly to be approved by men.
Galatians 1:10 "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ."
Proverbs 29:25 "The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted."
Notice when we speak to many people they say "we are to forgive for our own sake", using the scripture that we are to forgive to be forgiven by God, however they leave out the scriptures that say "when they come to you to ask." We can cherry pick any scripture we want, to make it fit with modern psychology, but it will produce false doctrine and ungodly methods that create the opposite of what God wants to do in the lives of people.
Our goal ought to point those in sin to repentance and holiness, not the superficial flippant view of sin that this psychologized apostate church has embraced. It all makes everyone feel better, but few people ever repent because they don't have to, they expect and demand forgiveness when they are not sorry, they do not change because they have no hardship to show them their need to be changed by Christ, church goers make sin easy for the unrepentant heart.
There is no show of disapproval except soft words, and business as usual. They are never shunned, or spanked over anything they do, so they are comfortable continuing to be evil. Our job as believers is to promote and demonstrate holiness and a hatred toward sin. When our concern is more about "appearing" friendly, we cannot be useful for the kingdom.
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 "…12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES"
If we are to put out the believer who is sinning, we can expect that God would want us to do this to those who sin against us, for their sake, we must discipline others, we must require a confession of sin. If someone refuses to confess they will not change. Change only comes when someone learns to hate their sin so much that they don't want to return to it.
Matthew 8:15-17 "15 “If your brother sins[a], go and [b]show him his fault [c]in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every [d]fact may be confirmed. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as [e]a Gentile and [f]a tax collector."
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we will not confess, God will not cleanse us, He will leave us to wallow like the prodigal son, in the pig pen, until we are broken and ready to ask to be cleansed. We as believers who are not living in sin, must administer discipline, rebuke and correction to help the sinner to become aware of the seriousness of sin for himself and for the whole body.
1 Corinthians 5:6-7 "…5I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed."
When we forgive before repentance "for our own selves", we are not thinking about the growth of the sinner or the impact on the body of Christ. Psychology has effectively made everything about ourselves, it sounds so good, but has little help for the sinner or the body of Christ. It is simply just easier to forgive without repentance, than to confront sin head on, call it like it is, face possible rejection by the sinner and their f"lying monkeys" (people who support the sinner in their sin), than to fight the battle of defending God's Word.
Let me tell you, those who forgive without repentance care only about themselves, they do not have a burden for the sinner or for the church as a whole, their thoughts are almost entirely about their own feelings and acceptance of superficial believers and even non-believers.
I care more about eternity, far more than being loved and appreciated by this fallen and wicked world. I care about the eternity of the unbeliever and the sinning believer. Life should not be about "me", it is about holiness for all concerned.
There will be rejection in store for those who do things God's way, we are targets for all kinds of accusation and reputation maligning, that is not our business, we are about the business of our Lord, no matter the consequences.
If anyone accuses us of being rejected because of something we said or did on the Lord's behalf, our answer ought to be, "I am not responsible for the reactions of others, only for telling the truth in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then let them go and fight with God!
Our culture does not understand love, it is far more than just making someone happy, it is for the most part, helping someone be holy before God. If we love we seek to do what is right in God's eyes for the sake of our brother or sister. It is sharing in all their experiences of life with the principles of God as the guide.
1 Timothy 4:7 "Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;"
Romans 12:15 "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."
If we make someone happy but help them feel comfortable in their sin, then we have not loved them, we have shown contempt for them and love only for ourselves. Our desire to be loved by them took precedence over their welfare.
Proverbs 20:30 "Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, as do stripes the inner depths of the heart."
Hebrews 12:11 "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
Proverbs 13:24 "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him."
1 Corinthians 9:27 "But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."
Hebrews 12:5-11 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ..."
Revelation 3:19 "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent."
Proverbs 6:23 "For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,"
Proverbs 29:17 "Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart."
Proverbs 22:15 "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him."
2 Corinthians 7:10 "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death."
When we walk with God we have great joy, as He continually cleanses us as needed, we will feel the spiritual blows of discipline to grow us in holiness, it is a blessing.
Want to trust your feelings as the "self esteem" people say we should? Don't be fooled, our feelings are based on the flesh most of the time. That's why we cry at a sad movie or become fearful at a scary one, because our emotions don't seem to be able to differentiate between fact and fiction.
We know the movie is not real and yet we cry anyway or feel fear, songs always manipulate our senses, but can lead us astray, our truth must be based on God's principles and facts not our emotions.
God says "come let us "reason" together." God wants us to think rationally in making our choices and decisions.
I have found that if one stops "nursing" thoughts of desired sin, the feelings eventually dissipate.
Proverbs 4:23 "Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life."
Philippians 4:6-8
"6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."
That's why God told us to guard our thought life, it is sort of like the rudder on a ship, whichever way our thoughts go, so go our actions. We can retrain our thought life through reading of God's Word and meditating on His principles.
I have a saying I use a lot, "ignore your feelings, they will tell us things are good when they are bad and they will tell us things are bad when they are good, they cannot be trusted."
Why are we so afraid to let our children go so that God can teach them His way?
Notice the father of one of the prodigal sons never chased after the son who left the household? He never looked for him, had no phone to call him, never wrote a letter to him or any other form of contact with him, he let him go.
What the Father did do was hope for his return and became excited when the son repented. The son had to wallow with the pigs to be broken over his sin before he could realize his need for the father.
For all those people who keep hanging onto, bailing out and pampering their rebellious adult children to keep them close, remember that you may be thwarting something wonderful God has for your children but you are standing in His way. If they haven't listened to you by now, perhaps the Lord can use others while bringing peace back into your home.
When our focus is on ourselves, the possibility of missing and grieving over a child who has left, we miss the bigger picture, bringing trials into our own lives that God never intended for us to have, simply because of the fear of loneliness and worse the judgment of others who don't understand.
When we focus on God, seek His will His way, we can be free from the judgments of unspiritual worldly people, bring peace to our lives and even help in the repentance of a wayward child by letting them go. Discipline can be very effective in helping a people learn to ask God to change their heart.
God has not called us to raise adult children, He has however mandated that adult children care for their aging parents when there is a need. Our culture is backward in this, the adult children now demand that their parents continue to take care of them, the opposite of God's plan.
When we do things God's way, we free ourselves from evil and stress caused by rebellion and go on to more fully serve God.
I have to say, I prefer to be alone with God and my thoughts much more than in a house full of rebellious people who fight against all that it truth. Give me God any day and I will have all I need.
LOL, notice I don't worry about speaking my mind openly on facebook, none of our children are reading what I write, they don't even want to be friends with me on facebook because I am too bold for them, I am an embarrassment, or so it seems.
If my mother had written a lot of things, I would want to read everything she wrote. I found out that she had written a small booklet, I wanted to read it, she shared it with an aunt and a brother, but would not share it with me when I asked to read it. I wanted to know my mother's thoughts, I was interested, but in our generation our children are not interested in our thoughts, unless we completely validate their life, it's all about them. They like to know facts about a person's life as long as it does not include Biblical correction.
We don't have to take it personally, they aren't interested in God's thoughts either. They use the cherry picking method of Bible reading to justify what they want, rather than seeking God to know His heart, if they even ask God for truth or read their Bibles more than just in the church gathering.
When I was in Sunday School, we were taught that the Bible was God's love letter to us from our Father. If we were sent a letter from our Father that we had not seen in a long time, we would not place the unopened letter on the mantle and ignore it, we would quickly open it, pouring over every word to hear from our father. We might even read the letter over and over again to sense a closeness to him. This should be our response to our heavenly Father, He has sent us a letter containing all the wisdom of His own heart, and all we have to do is read it and ask Him for the understanding and He will answer. '
Our children's generation doesn't care about a letter from parents, it is treated lightly, even critically, but even more somber is the thought that our children demonstrate this same mentality toward God, lacking interest in His heart, His thoughts and His direction, embracing what they like in the letter from Him and throwing away what doesn't fit our culture or what doesn't make them feel prominent and special.
If our children ever became interested in what I write, I would probably pass out from the shock. If they are sneaking peeks, I have no evidence of that, some have blocked me. I have been told by two of them that they "don't respect" me, a tactic used to manipulate emotions, because I have confronted them about their sin. I suppose this is a narcissistic tactic to intimidate me into silence or feeling guilt for telling them the truth. Narcissists love the strategy of punishing their victims to control them. I guess they cannot control me so they isolate me from themselves. The only Person I ever want to be controlled by is Christ, everyone else will not be in control of me, nor do their maneuvers dictate my voice or actions. My desire is to please God, often this displeases man and causes rejection.
This mentality of the parent being equal with the child has caused them to treat us like any other person who irritates them, ignoring, deleting and even blocking us if they don't like what is being said. No matter what our parents did, we would never have spoken to them the way our children have spoken to us. We loved our parents with all their problems. Rather than being hateful and mean to them for their behavior or attitudes, we grieved that they would do things that dishonored God, we admitted to ourselves the truth about them and desired that they love us. There was no thought of "punishing" them or "teaching" them, it was total acceptance of their position as parents. Our job was to be loving and honoring children, we were not appointed to be their teachers or judges.
1 Timothy 5:1 "Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers,"
When we reflect on how we are being viewed and treated by adult children, remember that God created the entire universe, including the people in it. He gave His children all their needs, provided an amazing paradise for them to live out their eternity, never becoming tired when they worked hard, never becoming ill or sensing anything that is ugly or mean., and, what did they do? The original couple had God's love and total protection forever. They ignored His direction, lacking gratefulness, they wanted more than they had, they wanted to be like God, validated in their own right through their own glory. They were not satisfied with all the blessings of God, they had to have their own way, to be elevated in their own minds.
The teaching of self esteem has caused our children to think that the world revolves around them, desiring to be elevated in the eyes of others, they grapple for praise while disdaining correction and training. Their focus is on appearing wonderful and accomplished in whatever they do, rather than becoming holy and righteous.
They disdain the wisdom of their parents, while thinking they already have all the answers, they have no need of anyone else's counsel. Many have made a mess of their lives, when all they had to do was listen to those who have already lived long enough to know things they have not yet experience, but they are determined to go it alone to be able to take all the credit for wins while blaming others for their losses.
Rather than looking objectively at their lives, being honest about what they have done and admitting their failure to learn and go on to do better, they hold onto their pride with the tenacity of a barnacle on the bottom of a boat, progressing no further than superficial foolishness, they struggle, flounder and flop like dead fishes on the beach and think they are in control of their own lives, not realizing that they are going no where in a hurry.
2 Timothy 3:9 "But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also."
I could never speak rudely or harshly to someone who is much older than I, no matter what their delivery, I was raised in a different generation that was taught not to speak disrespectfully to older people.
Isn't this what we see now when our children reject the mandates of God to honor their parents? Our children are no different from the original couple, they still want to be in charge of their own life, no matter what devastation it brings. They do not honor God nor do they care if they grow in holiness, it's all about appearances for the praise of men.
I have seen loving and respectful adult children who are humble, but in our day they are few. What a blessing when we encounter them, we can feel the love emanating from them as they interact respectfully and attentively. They know they have a lot to learn and appreciate an honest discussion that may cause growth in their lives.
Thank the Lord for the examples that we have had of the wise and mature adult children, if not for them, we might be tempted to believe the way things are right now are natural and normal.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us what the end times will be like, knowing this helps us to endure things on this earth, they are not a surprise to us and we don't have to take them personally, the devil is working hard to twist the minds of those who have not submitted to Christ. They don't see clearly, they are blinded by their own desires.
"1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, [a]haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [b]godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these." 2 Timothy 3:1-5
May the Lord bless with His wisdom all those who want to grow in holiness, while convicting those who have not yet discovered how wonderful it is to walk with God in His ways. May those in bondage be freed from themselves through salvation in Christ Jesus.
When two people commit to one another in a covenant marriage, God makes them one and no man can undo that, it is a permanent union until death.
Mark 10:9 "9 What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Our English versions of the Bible are not clear enough to help us, we have to go back to the original languages for the understanding.
In the book of Matthew many people say one can get a divorce for adultery, but that book was written to Jews who had the custom of a divorce certificate from the engagement, also called a betrothal, if the one of the parties had been unfaithful before the marriage. There was never any indication that one could divorce for adultery when there was a marriage. In the Jewish custom, the man and woman were called husband and wife even before they had been formally married or lived together.
Joseph said that he was going to "divorce Mary" because he thought she had been unfaithful, but instead decided to put her away quietly to spare her the cultural consequences for fornication. Joseph and Mary were not yet married, but they called one another husband and wife because the promise to marry was nearly as binding as the marriage in Jewish custom, except for unfaithfulness before the marriage.
Matthew 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever [a]divorces his wife, except for [b]immorality, and marries another woman [c]commits adultery.”
In the other three gospels, there is no such "exception clause" because those books were written to Gentiles who didn't have the custom of divorce for fornication in the betrothal or engagement period, so there was no need to address it.
This is why Christ said, if you divorce you are sinning, but if you do you must remain single. Why? Because according to Matthew, the only two options for a divorced person is to remain alone or be reconciled to the original covenant spouse.
Matthew 5:32 "But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication ( before marriage), causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."
1 Corinthians 7:11 "(but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife."
Anyone who marries a divorced person is committing adultery and anyone who is divorced and remarries is committing adultery.
Our culture cannot wrap their minds around this because we have been free for so long to divorce, that our culture thinks it is a right and perfectly acceptable.
Marriage is a picture of the salvation experience. When God takes us as His bride it is permanent, we are sealed with His Holy Spirit. God never throws us away no matter what we do, even though He will discipline us for sin to cleanse us, we remain His bride until He takes us home.
When we see the picture of salvation and the marriage relationship in this way, we can never think of divorcing. God is faithful to us when we are not always faithful to Him. No one has been completely faithful in terms of adultery, since we have all had impure and selfish thoughts and our Lord told us that if we even so much as have a lustful thought, we have committed the sin of adultery. In the eyes of God our thought is the same as the act. The consequences are often bigger for the act than the thought, but the sin is the same.
2 Timothy 2:13 "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."
The first marriage is sealed by God in a covenant relationship until one partner dies, any marriages after divorce are adultery. It is really very simple, but our culture is confused, through willful ignorance in most cases, because it has been taught for many years now that there are excuses to divorce. Not that long ago all church goers knew divorce and remarriage were sins, there was never any question about it. The churches have been teaching false doctrine on this and even practicing divorce and remarriage, to such an extent that leaders in the church are marrying divorced and remarried people while indulging in the sin themselves.
Also, in the original language, "commits adultery" means an ongoing state of adultery as long as the two remarried people remain together. The adultery only stops when the relationship stops. Most people refuse to accept this fact.
John 6:60 "Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?"
When Christ said these things to the disciples, they too were astonished at it, since the same problem existed in their day.
Our churches are full of people who are remarried, committing adultery while no one stands against it. That's the reason so many people are divorcing and remarrying, they have been accepted as full fledged members of churches while even the pastors are doing it themselves and even marrying those who are divorced to other divorced people.
What an incredible mess the society and the church is in and almost no one will listen. How can church leaders teach commitment to a spouse for life when they are supporting the sin of adultery in their own congregations.
2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;"
What was commonly accepted as sin under the rule of the Bible, only a generation ago, is now embraced as normal reasonable activity. Those who practice this sin are accepted and those who speak out against it are punished in various ways, not the least of which is rejection by friends, family and church.
God said that in the last days, evil would be, not only tolerated but approved and recommended by nearly everyone.
When we tolerate and embrace the sins of divorce and remarriage we are negating the notion that when Christ saves us it is permanent salvation not based on our deeds, but on His sacrifice on the cross.
When we marry, we promise to stay together through sickness and in health, in other words through it all, through mental or physical illness as well as the good times.
Wouldn't it be better for us to teach what Christ taught to the youth, so that they will not be devastated by the splitting of their families, that their children will have two parents in the same household, who love each other?
Wouldn't it be better for our children to see us staying together no matter what the trial, praying together while trusting God to help us? Children learn by example, when they see parents acting like spoiled children in marriage, demanding their own way and throwing away spouses, they will learn what to do when it becomes their turn to marry.
OR, we can train our children by our example, to tough it out in the trials of life, hang in there watching God work it all out while everyone involved remain loyal, becoming stronger and more mature with each new victory.
The problem with our culture is that we want a "fast food" fix for everything, we are not willing to go through hard times to come out the other side victoriously. We don't see the victories because we don't fight the battles we just bail out. The battles are fought on our knees and in our hearts, not in the courts.
In our culture we like to take only the good and throw away the negative, as though we deserve to have only good, when we cannot even live up to "only good."
How arrogant can we be, to think that we don't have any warts that others have to endure or accept! When we toss out spouses because they do bad things, we are acting as though we are above all bad ourselves and have nothing to confess or from which to be cleansed.
Perhaps it is time to stop wallowing in self pity, like spoiled children over the failings of our spouses and begin to attempt to understand things from their point of view. Perhaps if we saw ourselves through their eyes and evaluate our own actions according to God's standard, we would not be so quick to throw away people simply because they don't meet our personal needs or desires.
Many broken relationships could be avoided if we would just learn to think of others and what is best for them more than we think about ourselves.
James 4:1-2 "1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.…"
When we keep our eyes focused on God, reading His Word while praying for understanding, then we will be able to do what God has commanded in His Word. God did not make suggestions as though He isn't sure the right thing to do and man must help Him decide, He gave commands because He knows what is best, what works and what spares mankind all the troubles they bring on themselves by their willfulness.
