Luke 7:34 and Matthew 11:19 says that Jesus is a friend of
sinners. Jesus was a friend of tax collectors (There may be hope for the IRS
after all). The religious leaders of His day mocked Him and called Jesus a
glutton and a drunkard. If we were to continue to search Scripture we would
find Jesus associating with prostitutes, adulterers, and every other person
that was shunned in His day.
Guess who Jesus was during His time on earth? He was a
common man that associated with common people. Hebrews 2:9 says that Jesus (God
incarnate – God in the flesh) came down to associate with us, and was made
lower than the angels. Jesus walked the earth as a common man. He did not live
in a palace. He did not own thousands of acres of land. He did not wear the
lastest high dollar fashion of the day. Mathew 8:20 and Luke 9:58 points out
that Jesus did not even have a place to lay his head. Jesus’ closest friends,
the disciples, were regular blue collar working men.
Jesus never condemned the people He was among for their sin.
He did not accept the sin and spoke against it, but Jesus never shunned the
sinners. The fact is that we are all sinners. We have all fallen short of God’s
glory. No one on earth is righteous, and yet Romans 5:8 says that God proves
His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
If you think you are one of the righteous religious people
that are excused from being called a sinner, you are blind. If you think the
clothes make a person, you are wrong. If you think others are beneath you
because of mistakes you have made, the life you live, the house you own, or the
car you drive, you are wrong. Stop looking at the outside of the cup. Stop
being concerned with how clean and pretty things are on the outside. Clean up
the inside of the cup.
While I am on this topic, stop trying to judge people? What
right do you have? Who has given anyone the authority to judge any other
person? When you judge someone, you are condemning them. I hate to tell you
this, but you cannot condemn anyone anymore than you can save them. That is God’s
job, and His alone. You can love others and disapprove of their choices. You do
not have to throw the problems of others in their face. All you are doing is
making yourself look like a foolish hypocrite when you try to elevate yourself
above another so you can point out their sin. At that point the person you
should be helping is no longer listening.
I am not worthy to so much as write what you are reading. I
have messed up, I have backslidden, and at one point I even tried to run away
from God. I was blatantly rebellious, and even angry. No matter what, Jesus
died for my sin before I was ever born. Before I committed any sin, Jesus died
for the sin I would commit. That thought is humbling. Jesus could have scrapped
the mold and tossed me in the trash before I was ever conceived, but God’s
infinite wisdom and love allows a sinner like you, me, and everyone else to
have a relationship with Him. I should not have the ability to write or speak
of God, yet He died, paying the penalty of my sin so that I can be completely
forgiven.
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