There’s a guy I know who is a very negative person. I’ll show a short video that ends really great, and he inevitably replies with something that probably happened out of view of the camera. Just as a fake example, a dog sharing his food with a cat. “That cat probably clawed the living daylights out of the dog so many times it’s a survival instinct.” To him it couldn’t possibly just be a cute video with a great message.
I mentioned that kind of thing to my wife, about how negative this guy is, and right in the middle of it I realized I used to be the same way. It’s still an ongoing battle to keep that kind of negativity at bay.
There’s a great parallel in Romans. The passage points out that all you folks who think “this” or “that” kind of person is condemned to eternity in Hell. It’s a favorite for the Pharisee of modern times. “See? The Bible says it right there!”
There’s a whole list of the kinds of people who are going to Hell. But did you read verse 11? Weren’t you the same way before you began walking with Jesus?
Yes, without Jesus it doesn’t matter how moral and ethical you are, how good you’ve been, or what other people thought about you. What really matters is what God thinks of you. If you’ve accepted the gift of redemption bought by the suffering and death of Christ, then when God looks at you He sees the righteousness of Jesus.
The thing is, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never committed adultery, never murdered anyone, or any of the other things listed in the Ten Commandments. Jesus said it’s a matter of the heart. If you hate someone, or even if you call them a fool, to God you’ve murdered them. If you look at someone with lust, you’ve committed adultery in God’s eyes.
NOTE: Calling someone a fool was considered a deadly insult. There was no worse curse against someone.
There are a lot of things I’ve said or done over the years that I see others doing, and my immediate reaction is, “What an idiot!”
AKA, “fool,” Mark. Look what you just did.
And, by the way, didn’t you used to be the same way?
For so much of my life I was the “good kid.” I did what was right, but it was a self-righteousness. In order to be saved from Hell we need the righteousness of God. If we could earn our own salvation then when we get to Heaven someone could brag about how good we were.
Do you think God is honored to be in your presence? No. Not unless He is welcome in your life and in your mind and in your heart.
Remember, He’s perfect and you are not. Nor am I.
I do need to point out, however, the converse is also true. No sin you’ve committed will exempt you from His Kingdom if you accept Him as your personal Savior. Hitler, if he’d accepted Christ, would have been welcomed. So if you are a killer, a rapist, art thief, or a cheater while playing cards, you’re not too dirty for the blood of Jesus.
You’re not good enough without Him, nor are you so bad He can’t save you.
I’ve heard that we see in others what we see in ourselves.
And I’m still fighting that darkness within.
With God’s help it’s fading fast.
Now, about my eating . . . .
That’s another battle.
