“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3: 13-14
What do you do when Christians disappoint you? As a young Christian, I hungered for the abundant life Jesus talked about, a life of victory over sin and of fruitful work. Naturally, I looked to older, more mature Christians. “They will have found the secret to living a victorious Christian life,” I thought.
I expected that they would love one another and build each other up. Instead, I often found a judgmental spirit which led to divisions and rejections. I heard them gossiping and talking maliciously about each other. I saw them being selfish and greedy.
What a let-down! “If that’s the best Christianity can do,” I thought, “who needs it?”
I put the Bible aside and went to other books for life’s answers. But no book tackled life as honestly and realistically as the Bible did. It alone spoke of a Savior who valued sinful persons enough to die for them. Could I, like Christ, look beyond a fault to the intrinsic value God puts on a person?
“Look to Me, not to people,” I heard Jesus saying to me. “If you look to people, you will be disappointed. My followers are faulty just as you are faulty. All of you are in the process of growing and maturing. See to it, that nobody stumbles over your life.”
I have met many beautiful people, inside and outside the church, who’ve blessed my life. I’ve determined to see each person as Christ sees them.
Dear God, forgive me when I disappoint You and cause others to stumble. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that people will see Jesus in me. Amen.
