Episode 15 - Could Never Be Me

Some of the things you’ve never done, you were simply never given the chance to do.

Transcript

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Have you ever looked at someone who committed a very public sin or a sin that was eventually discovered or uncovered and publicized, discussed, um, maybe shared amongst a friendship group or amongst church members or family members and thought to yourself, Oh my gosh, like I would never do that. And maybe you heard about somebody doing something maybe extremely promiscuous or something just very scandalous, and you know, you hear about it, and you're just sitting there thinking, I would never, I could never, you know, how could she, how could he? Today I want to talk about that. You know, a lot of the things that we believe are a result of our personal piety or just our goodness or morality as people, it's really just the absence of circumstance. I believe that the right pressure, you know, the right moment of vulnerability can yield very surprising results for us. When you haven't been tested, you know, in every single arena, it's very easy to say, you know, that certain things are extreme, you know, extremely poor behavior. And when we pray to God to lead us not into temptation, we are basically admitting that there are temptations that we are asking God, you know, to actively keep us safe from there are doors that we are asking Him to keep shut essentially before we even have the opportunity to walk through them, you know. And so before we look at people who have fallen or people who have made mistakes and errors, before we look at them with a sense of superiority, we have to ask ourselves Have I actually been tested in exactly that same way, in exactly that same situation, in exactly that same season? And if the answer is no, then you really don't have the data to judge that person. Instead, you should actually show grace. Instead, you should be grateful that okay, I haven't been through this, and because you are grateful for that, it should bring about a desire to redeem this person. You should use that grace that God has shown you by you never having experienced such a temptation to restore that person and not to condemn them. And that's essentially what Galatians 6 is talking about. Galatians 6 verse 1 says, Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path and be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other's burdens, and in this way, obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. I'm reading this in the NLT version, so maybe that's why it sounds that way. But it's just the fact of the matter. The difference between you and the person who fell might just be one single conversation that you didn't have, or one single experience or encounter that you didn't have, and it might just be because God decided to have that door closed for you, and not because of your personal morality or piety. So if you know someone who's made an error or someone who's fallen, please redeem them, please encourage them, please pray for them. Once again, this is guided fire. Stay guided, stay grounded, and stay on fire.