“Brothers and sisters, if
someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that
person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” Galatians 6:1
The
church in Galatia had a faction that had infiltrated their congregation. They were referred to as the Judaizers, for
they believed that true Christianity needed to combine God’s grace with
adherence to the Mosaic Law. These
Judaizers not only pushed their beliefs on the church, but also questioned
Paul’s authority as a man of God.
Let’s look at the above verse in the context of doing good
to all you encounter, especially your spiritual brothers and sisters. If someone is caught up in a sinful practice
as a believer, don’t judge them as so many are prone to do. Pray for them and show them the grace of God
that He has shown you. If the Lord
treated us the way we treat others I don’t think we’d like it very much. We can even throw into the mix the Golden
Rule that we talked about Monday. Treat
others the same way you would like to treated. Would you like to be judged harshly
for each indiscretion in your life? They
may be plentiful, as painful as that may be to admit. Wouldn’t you want to be gently corrected and
set on the correct path once again? Of
course you would.
It’s important that we take care not to get caught up in the
same temptation that had caused the brother or sister we are attempting to
assist to stumble or fall. Temptation is
all around us. The devil can’t strip you
of your salvation, but he can make you less effective for Christ if he can get
you to fall on your face. Forgiveness is
available, but your own sense of guilt will weight heavy on you and cause you
to hold back thinking yourself unworthy.
Christ makes you worthy and God knows our tendency to stumble and be less
than perfect. This is because we aren’t
perfect at all, just forgiven and trying to imitate the Lord the best we can
with the Holy Spirit’s help. We should
keep that in mind when we come upon a fellow believer who has fallen into
sin. Until next time, walk with the King
and be a blessing!
