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Faith

I need to mind my business It’s not my business to tell someone else how to live out their faith. And that includes any thought of telling them: What they need to omit from their life What they need to add to their life What they need to stop doing What they need to start doing What they shouldn’t have done What they should have done What they should do in the future For starters, it’s awfully presumptuous to assume I know exactly what element of life God wants to change/work on/heal/grow in another individual. My interference may stunt the growth of a baby believer (or, let’s be honest, my words could harm a more established believer, too). My invasive words (even when touted as being “encouragement”) could even STOP their growth, and I will be held accountable for that. (Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2) And maybe, just maybe, my interfering and “setting them straight” or “encouraging them to make the right decision” is actually distracting them from a deeper work that God wanted to do in them. Maybe healing in deep places, maybe learning to trust Him, or love Him, or maybe calling them to recognize they have an issue with dishonesty or greed or a lack of integrity. And maybe one of those things needs to be addressed BEFORE they address the fact of living with their girlfriend/boyfriend/fiance. Or before they address an excessive alcohol consumption. Or before they address some issues with the clothes in their closet. None of those things are my business. Their morality is none of my business. Their code of ethics is none of my business. Their sense of modesty is none of my business. My business is making sure I am following God. My business is NOT making sure THEY are following God. My business is to love them well (Matthew 22:39), point them to Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:2), and trust God to heal them, grow them, change them - as He has with me (Philippians 1:6). My business is to tell them about God. About how He heals, and protects, and restores, and gives grace, and saves, and brings joy, and sets captives free, and releases people from bondage, and fills hearts and minds with peace that passes all understanding. My business is to talk about everything that God is. And does. My business is NOT telling them how to live. Questions I’m asking myself: Am I drawing people to Jesus with my words and actions? Or shoving them away? (Matthew 12:30) Am I gently and lovingly pointing to Jesus, and letting people work out their own salvation? (Philippians 2:12) Do I have such a compulsion to control others or “fix” others that I can’t trust God to reveal truth to them in the same way He has to me? (Philippians 3:15) Am I so arrogant as to assume I can put myself in the place of God to point out the error of their ways, when I myself have so many things I need to work on? (Matthew 7:3-5) I need to mind my business, Making space for someone to meet Jesus, Don't abort the baby, Make straight the paths

I Need to Mind My Business

I need to mind my business. My interfering and “setting them straight” or “encouraging them to make the right decision” is actually distracting them from a deeper work that God wanted to do in them.

Desert Seasons spiritually dry reconstructing faith

Desert Season

I’m talking about a darkness so deep – and so long – that you almost can’t remember what light is like, and you wonder if God Himself has abandoned you.

I’m talking about a fight to hang onto your faith. Except that the weariness has taken over to the point that you don’t think you have what it takes to fight any longer.