Jesus did not commit Himself to them…, for He knew what was
in man. —John 2:24-25
“Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest
injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions. … if
we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and
righteousness from that person … we are demanding of a human being something
which he or she cannot possibly give. … Our Lord trusted no one, and never
placed His faith in people, yet He was never suspicious or bitter. Our Lord’s
confidence in God, and in what God’s grace could do for anyone, was so perfect
that He never despaired, never giving up hope for any person. If our trust is
placed in human beings, we will end up despairing of everyone.” OSWALD
CHAMBERS
Has anyone ever disappointed you? How does that make you
feel? Do you lose hope for them? Have
you lost hope for them? Have you given up on them? It is really pretty easy to do. I think most people have a category that they
put others in called “They are never going to change.” In a way, we are correct. They can’t change without help. Not our help.
God’s help. Just like He changed you
and me … who were never going to change either.
Now the tricky part is that some think that if I think differently about
that person, I must accept, embrace they things they do and the life they
live. Not so! But, at the same time, when you
cast them off as “unchangeable” you have judged them and condemned them to Hell. Because of what they have done to you or someone else, perhaps that
is your hope for them. I know people in
my life that I have done this to. (This is
very convicting as I type these words.) Listen,
God is in the business of saving us from Hell and transforming us to the image
of His Son through faith. Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant? (Matthew 18:21-35) Think about these
verses in terms of the people in your life that you have relegated to “They are
never going to change”.
(John 3:16) “For
God so loved the world” That is pretty inclusive .. doesn’t leave anyone out
including the ones that we think will never change.
(Romans 5:8) “But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God did not demand that we do something that
we were incapable of doing, and yet He did not, could not, would not embrace us
until we placed our faith in His Son.
The second greatest commandment is to love people (Matthew 22:39). So don’t give up on those “Never Changers”,
pray for them. Forgive them. You can’t you say? Of course you can’t, you
need God’s help to do that. What you are
trying do in the flesh you can only do in the Spirit. It is a supernatural act, forgiveness
is. We need to see others just like Jesus
did. Even while on the Cross, Jesus asked
the Father to forgive the very people that rejected Him and killed Him. There is no way that we can love people like
that on our own.
(1 John 4:18-20) “There
is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do
with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because
he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is
a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have
seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” CHARLEY
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