Faithful are
the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs 27:6
Jesus never gave relief to people who were under conviction.
When Zaccheus, in remorse for his sin, shared his generous plans for
restitution, Jesus did not say, “Now Zaccheus, the important thing is that you
feel sorry for what you did.” Jesus brought no comfort to him as he dealt with
his sin (Luke 19:1-10). Neither did Jesus excuse disbelief. We never find Jesus
saying, “Well, that’s all right. I know I’m asking you to believe a lot, and
that’s not easy.” On the contrary, Jesus was quick to chastise His disciples
when they failed to believe Him. Jesus loved His friends too much to condone or
comfort them in their sin.
It is possible to be too gentle with your friends. When a friend
is under deep conviction by the Holy Spirit, do you try to give comfort? Don’t
ever try to ease the discomfort of someone whom the Holy Spirit is making
uncomfortable! Be careful not to communicate to your friends that you find
their lack of faith acceptable. You are not acting in true friendship if you
condone disobedience or even if you look the other way. Kisses are far more
pleasant than wounds, yet they can be even more devastating if they lull your
friend into being comfortable with sin.
In our attempt to appease our friends and our reluctance to
share a word from God, we can actually cause great harm. If we see our friends
in danger and do not warn them, God will hold us accountable for our silence
(Ezek. 33:6). Are you a friend of such integrity that you would risk wounding
your friends in order to deter them from their sin?
No comments:
Post a Comment