Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh
When we are passionate about something, we tend to stand our ground when that thing is opposed. We tend to dig in our heals and prepare for battle…we prepare to trade fire for fire, blow for blow, and in the end, convince the other party that we are right and they are wrong. There are probably few things that rival the passion that we have for Jesus Christ. And when we come across someone that opposes our Lord, we might naturally staring digging in our heals and preparing for the conflict. After all, this is our Lord that they are disparaging…this is the Man that gave us everything when he took on that cross…and we will dang sure not let him get blasted by another. But then we come across the text above…”be merciful to those who doubt”. Be kind to those that don’t believe as we believe…be sympathetic to those who have yet to truly see the Savior…be compassionate to those that oppose the Lord. For it’s not our job to dish out the punishment for their disbelief…it’s not our role to backhand them into seeing the light. That’s in God’s hands (Jude 1:9, 14-16). And I am convinced that God doesn’t need any of our help in that area as he is more than sufficiently capable of taking care of business (Jude 1:5)…and has been doing so for centuries. My prayer is that when we encounter someone that opposes our Lord, that we stand strong in our beliefs, not compromising what we know to be true…but at the same time responding with mercy, displaying the love, gentleness, and righteousness that Christ showed so often. It’s all about bringing glory to the Lord…and in showing mercy, we are bringing that glory to Him. Peace on your week.
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