Care that leads to Contempt

Imagine with me, your brother is in need. You go to him and show love, care and concern. His response? "Get behind me, Satan!" Intriguingly that was Jesus' reply to Peter.

Matthew 16:22-23

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus was sharing about how he must go through many sufferings and eventually be killed and then raised to life on the third day. Having heard this, Peter exclaimed about how he will not allow such a thing to happen to Jesus. Instead of feeling touched or loved by such words, Jesus was not at all pleased.

Many times we may want to show care and concern to the people around us, especially in our CG, our sheep and so on. However, do you know that sometimes it may not be the best thing for us to do so? Why so? Because God has His plan for each and every one of us. And in each and every one of these unique plans, there is one key element that is the same throughout: partnership with God.

Partnership with God is the key element found in every one of these plans and thus if our care and concern shown to others does not point our brothers and sisters towards God, it might be better not to show it then.

I shall say SOMETIMES. NOT all the time. I don't want leaders coming after my life... In any case, we need to be discerning in our actions. We do not want our sincere love and care for those that matter to us be a stumbling block to the plans that God has for them in their lives. Even something as simple as SMS-ing a verse can be a stumbling block. Because the SMS may cause the person to look to you, rather than God.

What would God have you do?

This applies to ourselves as well. What do we do when things get tough? Do we FIRST come before God? Or do we turn to men?

Sometimes the best thing that we can actually do to love and help a person may be to PRAY. Truly. As a saying goes:

When you work, you work. When you pray, God works. When God works, it really works! :)

Off for lessons! GFG tonight! May the best debaters win! LOL! ^^