How do we relate to other people in an engaging and caring manner?
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Luke 16:15
As I shared in the last devotional, believers can’t operate as trial lawyers whose agenda is to just be right! We are called to respond differently. Based on the above scripture we need to pay attention to three areas:
1. Value what others share
We truly need understanding to hear someone else’s point of view whose background and life experience is different than ours. Sometimes we avoid compassion and understanding because we are afraid it may be taken the wrong way. We are worried that if we show too much sympathy, the person may surmise that we are in agreement with them.
Jesus was called “friend of sinners”. On the surface, it looked like He was ok with people’s sin because He had a relationship with them. However, Jesus did not shy away from telling people the truth. He was able to do it skillfully by picking the right time, the right place, and the right approach. He was patient with the process. God is patient with us as well. Many times, He works through a process to help us see the error of our ways.
Valuing what others share doesn’t mean we have to agree with them, but it does mean that they are heard and cared for.
2. Refrain from justifying ourselves
When we are in the mode of justifying ourselves, we are too busy protecting our interests. We are not in a position to hear someone else’s point of view neither are we open to seeing our shortcoming. Justification can become a smokescreen for a believer or a church to not look in the mirror and correct what needs attention. That’s a scary place, and the enemy would love to have a field day with that kind of person or church.
When it comes to the issue of how we handle other people’s sin, we need to make a great effort to not make it a political stance but allow it to be about God’s heart for people. For example, In John 8:1-11 a woman is caught in adultery. There was no question that adultery was wrong, but how the scribes and the Pharisees handled the woman was very different than how Jesus handled it. The religious people treated the sinner as a contagious disease while Jesus saw her as a sinner with potential to change!
3. Popularity is not the plumb line
If a person or a church believes they are right with God because they are popular or have a following, they could be terribly wrong! God is not swayed by popularity of an individual neither is He impressed by the size of a ministry. As a matter of fact, what man highly exalts, God looks down upon!
If we want to know what pleases God, we need to read our Bible and get into our prayer closet and ask the Lord on various matters. We all need to develop our own personal walk with God without following the popular trends or relying solely on spiritual leaders for our spiritual growth and well being.
Do we value and care about people with different points of view?
