Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Questions and Answers Pt. 1

What if, in the circumstances, the thing I did was really the right thing to do?

Was what you did sin? Often, people want to justify their sin. They say, you don’t understand. You didn’t see the look they gave me. You didn’t hear what that man said. You would have responded the same way I did, had it been you she had cheated. To this I respond in two ways. First, you don’t want to compare your life with the way I might live my life. I might have acted the same way you acted. I might not have. I’m not the issue. Second, you do want to compare your life with Jesus’ life. Jesus would not have done what you did. Jesus took abuse, shame, scourging, beating, a crown of thorns, nails in his hands and feet, even death, and he never said anything close to what you said to that woman (1 Pet. 2:21-24). Jesus said that when we are persecuted, we are to bless and curse not (Lk. 6:28, cf. Rom. 12:14). If what you did was sinful, you need to confess it and make things right with that person. Sin can never be justified by claiming that it was the right thing to do in the context.

Okay, so it was wrong, but she knows how to push my buttons, and she pushes them all the time. She needed to get what was coming to her.

What you’re doing now is trying to excuse your sin. Did you sin? Who was the sin against? God is the one who commands you to love your wife as Christ loved the Church (Eph. 5:25). Your sin was not primarily against the woman, it was against God (Ps. 51:4). Your excuse that it was okay to be nasty to your wife because she was being unlovely is not an excuse to sin against God. You may not sin against God. You must confess your sin to God and also to your wife.

There may be times when another person has sinned against you and you simply have to give it over to God to deal with. God knows what is best for his world and his people. He will not allow evil to rule; he is just and vengeance is his (Rom. 12:17-19). In these times, if the choice is to sin or to let God deal with another sinner, it is best to allow God to work.

There is also warrant to let love cover other people’s sins (1 Pet. 4:8). This means that you simply let it go. You do not go after them and you certainly are not allowed to sin yourself. Your sin never accomplishes God’s plan. You need to let love prevail and do what God has called you to do.

No comments: