Mid-week Prayer Focus
Love through Disagreement
Pastor Wes & Dave
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Hey church! I want you to take a look at this short video that Pastor Dave recorded, and then I’d like to unpack it just a little with you…
Thank you Pastor Dave for that encouragement. As believers, we have the advantage of the Bible as a life guide- as a source of wisdom and insight. And if we spend time in God’s word, we are able to become familiar with His teachings, and as a result- through many of life’s circumstances we are able to see more clearly and are able to more quickly decipher what is right and wrong, good and bad, helpful and not-helpful. This is such a blessing, but- if we’re not careful, this advantage we have can perhaps lead to a judgmental spirit. A “I have it all figured out and others don’t” type attitude. Or, it can lead to a desire of just wanting to isolate ourselves from the world, and surround ourselves with believers who agree with us. While we definitely need to surround ourselves with a strong community of like-minded believers, we as God’s people still need to be able to engage with non-believers who disagree with us, and engage them with God’s love.
In a world full of so many varying opinions, and so many polar opposite viewpoints, we as believers perhaps need to be reminded not to lose our compassion and love for others who disagree with us. Even if we personally know without a doubt that they are wrong. Whether it be spiritual, economic, political, or social disagreements, etc- we need to be able to take a stand and freely and boldly express our viewpoints, but also be able to listen patiently as other viewpoints are expressed. Now, in today’s environment, I realize I’m probably preaching to the choir. Usually it’s the Christians’ opinion that is censored, squelched, or labeled as “hateful.” But my encouragement to the Christian community is not to react in like manner. Join with me in praying that we would be so strong and grounded in our faith that we wouldn’t let others who oppose us get us riled up and angry. Pray that we would be able to truly turn the other cheek, as Christ commands, and not return the anger, hate, name calling, or the shutting down. But rather may our response be love, pity, compassion for those who have been deceived by our enemy and the powers of darkness.