“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16

Admonishments

Walk His Way Revisited
First Posted in May, 2014

I was confronted very lovingly one day by a sister in the Lord. She came to me in humility about something I had done. To be sure, I had acted in innocence (in my own mind), but she was bothered by it.

My first internal reaction was that I was to just “take this” and not say a word in my defense, because after all, we are told in 1 Peter 2:20 that “when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.”

But later in the evening, my conscience began to bother me. Into my thoughts came all the times before that I had done the exact same thing to others without realizing it. No one else ever said anything about it and thus I continued this behavior without ever counting the cost. In fact, it is easy to justify our actions until the Holy Spirit (often working through another person) confronts us.

I wrestled through the night, my thoughts alternating between excusing and accusing. In the darkness, I conjured up imaginary conversations to handle this situation. But by morning, I knew for certain that I had been wrong in what I did. I got on my knees before the Lord, begging Him to put a watch over my mouth so that I would not blurt out something that would add insult to injury. I wanted to handle this in a Christ-like manner, for my spirit was grieved at how I could have walked so long with the Lord and yet still have this fault.

I opened my Bible to the day’s reading, not knowing what would come next after leaving off the day before. It was Romans 12:3: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” I burst into tears, for this spoke to my behavior so specifically. I was shocked, as I always am, that God had arranged the details of my life to coincide exactly with the day’s reading. At that moment, I knew what I needed to do.

I communicated with this dear sister that the Lord had dealt with me, and I acknowledged my sin and asked forgiveness. I reassured her that the Lord had used her in my life and that I knew she had been humble and gentle in speaking to me. Her response was loving, and she told me that the Lord had also used this situation to speak to her about what was in her own heart. As it should, the whole incident worked for the good of both of us.

Lord, we need Your gentle humbling. Thank You for knowing just how to work godliness into us. May we submit to the lessons You bring into our lives. Amen.