God alone can “sober us up”

Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. ~Matthew 6:12 (GNT)

Whew!  That can be a tough prayer to pray sometimes.  Just admitting our faults and where we got it wrong alone can be very humbling, but a greater test of humility is forgiving others.  Forgiving others requires letting go of the criticism and judgment of where others got it wrong and resisting the temptation to justify our thoughts and actions. We must daily humble ourselves knowing and admitting to God that our ideas and opinions are formed through a very limited perspective.  Yes, others fail, yes others hurt us, yes others get it wrong.  But that doesn’t make us Lord of their life.  There is only one Lord and that is Jesus!  We are told in Romans 14:14 “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” (NIV)  Notice “to their own master” they stand or fall…how often do we try to be the master of the universe?  How often do we try to help others become better with our opinions and perspectives only to find just two steps down the road that we are looking through a giant plank in our own eye trying to pull out a splinter from someone else’s eye!  That realization can be very sobering and that realization only comes when we choose to submit to the Holy Spirits leading.  He alone can “sober us up” and reveal where we are getting it wrong.

We hear a lot of talk these days about equality and fairness.  Throughout the ages men and women have been setting themselves up to be the ones who would administer justice in the earth.  The problem is many of those people have no idea what justice truly looks like through the eyes of a Holy God.  He calls Himself the great “I am”.  Sometimes we think we are the great “I am”.  We say to ourselves (and others) “I am the one who sees this situation clearly”, “I am the one that they are going to turn to when they get in a bad spot”, “I am the one that God has called to show them the error of their ways”…some of these might even be true…but that doesn’t make us the great “I am”.  God is.  He is more than able to deal with others in their wayward situation without you stumbling to try to help them.  God says He has given us the ministry of reconciliation.  That is our number one job in the earth.  Leading others to the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ.  We are supposed to perpetuate grace, not condemnation.  Jesus said He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.  The same is true for me and you, we aren’t in this world to condemn it.  We are called to be a living breathing letter from God to others of His goodness and love that has been demonstrated to all mankind.  Do you struggle with letting go of being the “all knowing” one in others’ lives?  Are you tempted to be critical when others don’t get it right, thinking you know all the “why’s” or “how’s” that they could do better?  A great place to start in laying that down is one humble sentence: “Forgive me, as I forgive others…” That’s it!  Not so easy peasy if we are steeped in our own opinions but freedom is just a prayer away, so ask God to help you today to make the changes you need to make that will bring God glory and bring more freedom to yourself and to the people around you.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ~1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

Is there someone in your life that you find yourself correcting before you have prayed for them? How that has affected your relationship with them?

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