The WOFOYO Podcast
The WOFOYO Podcast
Short-Term Pain, Long-Term Gain: The Wisdom of Biblical Sacrifice
The tension between justice and mercy sits at the heart of Christian living, but finding balance between these seemingly opposing forces can feel impossible. How do we avoid becoming so focused on judgment that we lose compassion? And equally dangerous, how do we prevent our compassion from eroding necessary boundaries?
Faith stands in the middle of this spectrum, acting as the stabilizing force that keeps us centered on the narrow path Jesus described. By examining the Hebrew word for evil ("ra"), which can be translated as "harm," we gain a powerful framework for understanding when something beneficial becomes destructive. Even good things—justice, mercy, and yes, even faith itself—can become harmful when taken to extremes.
Every day presents us with choices between short-term pleasure and long-term reward. The wisest biblical figures consistently sacrificed immediate comfort for lasting benefit. This wisdom applies directly to our spiritual lives: Are we building a genuine relationship with God, or merely being entertained? Even Christian activities and entertainment can become distractions from the deeper connection God desires with us. Like Mary who chose to sit at Jesus' feet while Martha busied herself with tasks, we must discern what truly matters.
You're always sacrificing something—either the future for the immediate, or the immediate for the future. Which one are you choosing today? Listen, reflect, and join us as we challenge ourselves to pursue balance through faith. Get in the Word for yourself and discover how trusting God keeps you centered between harmful extremes.
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Hey everybody, welcome to another Wofo, yo Short. This is C-Dub. In our last full episode, bones and I were talking about the weightier matters of the law. Jesus says you focused on basically the minutia but you've neglected the weightier matters of the law. And he named three things. He named justice, mercy and faith and we also discussed in that how justice and mercy if you were to look at it philosophically, they're kind of on opposite ends of the spectrum and we actually have in Christianity. We have those that will gravitate toward justice or judgment, legalism at times, but it's hellfire and brimstone all the time, all the time, all the time, and never any grace. And then there's also times where it's mercy and and brimstone all the time, all the time, all the time, and never any grace. And then there's also times where it's mercy and compassion mercy and compassion, mercy and compassion. And the next thing you know you've got drag queens up in your church trying to convert your kids. That's out of balance. What happens to be in the middle is faith. What happens to be in the middle is faith, and faith keeps you from going too far to the right and too far to the left. And also we had mentioned in our first season, that faith by another name is simply trusting God. There's people that have a whole doctrine, a whole industry, if you will, on preaching about faith and there's some value in what they're saying. There's also some overboard. So I just want to talk about can too much of a good thing be evil in this of a good thing be evil in this?
Speaker 1:And if you look up in the Hebrew, which is ironically the same word that the Egyptians use for their sun, god, the Hebrew word for evil is ra, and what it meant it could mean generically. It could mean evil, you know, go figure. But also more specifically, it could be translated as harm. So what makes something evil? Corsair's intent, but harm, is it harmful If something's harmful to you? One of the best passages that I remember was when Joseph is confronting his brothers about how they sold him into slavery. He said you meant it for evil, you meant it to harm me, but God meant it for good. Also, we had an episode or two where we were talking about the days of rebuilding, where we talked about Nehemiah and we talked about Ezra. About the days of rebuilding, where we talked about Nehemiah and we talked about Ezra, and especially with Nehemiah, he said that there was somebody that tried to entice him to go into the inner chamber. Basically he said I knew he meant me evil. In some translations it'll say I know he meant me evil. In other translations, I know he meant me harm. In other translations, I know he meant me harm. So how do you know what's evil? Well, it's harmful, and we have to keep that in balance, because harmful does not mean unpleasant. Okay, those are two opposite things.
Speaker 1:So if you have too much judgment, you're going to be in trouble, even under the auspices of justice. We're calling it justice. Well, it gets into vengeance. Then that's harmful. True justice is not harmful. Compassion, mercy is that harmful, lord? No, it's great Too much of it. To where there's never any boundaries set, to where everybody can get away with everything, even when it's at the expense of justice. If we have so much justice and judgment that it's at the expense of compassion and common sense, are those harmful? You bet you, it can be harmful Technically, by saying that you can be so compassionate that you're evil. You can be so justice, justice, judgment that it becomes evil. And as we said before, faith is that middle ground. Faith is what keeps you in line. It keeps you from going to the right hand or to the left too far. It's what keeps you on the straight and narrow path that Jesus talks about. So another aspect of this what's harmful versus what benefits?
Speaker 1:Think in terms of short-term and long-term. We talk about sacrifice and here in America, especially in certain circles, we like to talk about sacrifice, and a lot of what we're defining as sacrifice isn't even really sacrifice. On the other hand, if you think of it in these terms, sacrifice is something that you're doing all the time, whether you are conscious of it or not. When it comes to short-term pleasure versus long-term reward or vice versa, it is a form of sacrifice. If you look at the Bible characters of old, those that were wise were those that sacrificed in the short term, no different than doing PT in the morning. If you're willing to sacrifice, if you're willing to endure some short-term pain, then you have long-term results. If you're willing to endure some short-term fatigue, then you will have long-term results of a better life overall. Now, if you're going to sacrifice the long-term for the short-term, that's harmful. You're putting off rewards for the sake of immediate pleasure and that becomes harmful.
Speaker 1:I've seen it with family members, I've seen it in myself. This is something that I have to confront daily with every decision that I make short-term versus long-term, one of those things about. Is it evil? Am I doing myself harm If I forego prayer, if I forego relationship with God, even for church activities, if I forgo these weightier matters, these important things? Kind of like Jesus talking with Mary and Martha. Martha wants to do all these activities. Mary sits at Jesus' feet. Mary builds the relationship more than Martha does. They both love Jesus, but he says one's more beneficial.
Speaker 1:So if I get distracted, if I don't build a relationship with God and I focus on the short-term pleasure of entertainment, then there's going to be a long-term expense. Therefore, you can be so entertained that it's evil, even if you're watching Christian TV, because getting entertained is not building a relationship. Entertainment is entertainment. If you're getting entertained in your church, it's getting entertained in a different location. So ask yourself this Is it short-term pleasure? Is that all I'm living for? Because if that is your highest operating goal, then it's going to lead you to ruin and therefore it's evil.
Speaker 1:If it's going to be a long-term blessing, even though there's short-term and immediate discomfort, it's not evil, it's a blessing. It might be a blessing in disguise, but it's a blessing. So I just want you to think about that. You're always sacrificing something. You're always sacrificing either the future for the immediate, or you can sacrifice the immediate for the future. It's something you're already doing, but pray, get in the Word for yourself and ask the Holy Spirit which one you're doing and to bring it to mind when you're getting ready to make a bad decision and, by all means, that trust and that faith maintain that relationship so your faith is established and it'll keep you from going too far to the right or too far to the left, which is evil. Vofoyo. Hey everybody, thanks for listening. We hope this challenges you and causes you to grow. You can always check us out at vofoioorg or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, spotify or Audible, or check us out on YouTube. For Bones and myself, this is C-Dub reminding you if you're going to grow, you've got to Wofoyo. Get in the word for yourself.